Who's better for America... Democrats or Republicans?

I asked my personal A.I., SAL-9000, if the United States has ever had an undeserving and unprepared President as the one they have now...

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Partisan Governance and U.S. Outcomes, 1925–2025

A Century in Review

Executive Summary

Across the past 100 years of U.S. governance, broad macroeconomic and public health indicators have tended to perform better under Democratic administrations than Republican ones. This pattern is robust in multiple independent datasets, though causality is complex and subject to external shocks (wars, oil crises, pandemics).

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Economic Performance

• GDP Growth: Post-WWII, real GDP growth has averaged roughly 1–2 percentage points higher under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.¹

• Jobs: Net job creation has been about double under Democrats, with stronger employment growth in most decades.²

• Recessions: According to NBER dating, recessions have more frequently started during Republican presidencies.³

• Stocks: The S&P 500 and Dow have delivered significantly higher returns on average under Democratic administrations.⁴

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Fiscal and Inflation Outcomes

• Deficits/Debt: Patterns are mixed. Large shocks (wars, tax cuts, recessions) dominate partisan fingerprints. Some Democratic eras expanded safety nets while still reducing debt ratios (e.g., Clinton), while Republican eras often paired tax cuts with rising debt (e.g., Reagan, Bush).⁵

• Inflation: No consistent partisan advantage. The Carter era (late 1970s oil shocks) produced the highest inflation; otherwise differences are modest.⁶

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Public Health and Social Indicators

• Life Expectancy: Since 2000, counties and states governed by Democrats have recorded larger gains in life expectancy, while Republican-leaning areas saw stagnation or decline. Policy differences in healthcare, education, and safety explain much of this.⁷

• Mortality: Comparative studies show higher mortality in Republican-leaning counties, with gaps widening since the 1980s.⁸

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Interpretation

• Correlation ≠ causation: The “Democratic growth premium” is partly attributable to favorable timing and luck (oil shocks, productivity surges, defense spending shifts).¹

• Shared governance: Outcomes also depend heavily on Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, and lagged effects from prior administrations.⁵

• Policy environment: State and local results suggest that policy orientation matters for health and inequality, not just chance.⁷

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Bottom Line

On the balance of GDP growth, job creation, stock market returns, and public health trends, the record favours Democratic administrations. On inflation and debt, outcomes are mixed and context-dependent. Over the last century, Democratic governance correlates more consistently with outcomes considered “good for the country,” though the causal mechanisms are complex!

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O.K.,  O.K., The democrats are better for the United States than the Republicans! 

As for the current President...?

....................Don't get me started!

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Notes & References

1. Alan S. Blinder and Mark W. Watson, Presidents and the U.S. Economy: An Econometric Exploration, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2014).

2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation (various years).

3. National Bureau of Economic Research, Business Cycle Dating Committee Announcements.

4. Jeremy Siegel, Stocks for the Long Run (6th ed., 2022).

5. Congressional Budget Office, Historical Budget Data.

6. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U Historical Tables.

7. JAMA, “Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in Democratic vs Republican Counties, 2001–2019” (2022).

8. American Journal of Public Health, “Political Alignment and Mortality Trends” (2017).