Nation's Debt Ceiling Was Raised 7 Times While George W. Bush Occupied the White House

One of the most common questions that I have emailed to me is - how many times was the debt ceiling raised while George W. Bush occupied the White House?

To start, it's important to realize that both Republican and Democratic presidents have signed off on raising the nation's debt limit. Congress has enacted "74 separate measures that have altered the limit on federal debt" since March of 1962.

As the nation's debt load has surged from $1 trillion to $10 trillion to its current level of $14.3 trillion, the debt ceiling limit has also been raised accordingly.

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In terms of George W. Bush, the nation's debt limit was raised 7 times during his time in office (Bush was President from January 20th, 2001 to January 20th, 2009).

Here are the increases that were signed into law during his time as President of the United States:

P.L. 107-199
June 28th, 2002
New Limit: $6.4 trillion
Increase in Limit: $450 billion

P.L. 108-24
May 27th, 2003
New Limit: $7.384 trillion
Increase in Limit: $984 billion

P.L. 108-415
November 19th, 2004
New Limit: $8.184 trillion
Increase in Limit: $800 billion

P.L. 109-182
March 20th, 2006
New Limit: $8.965 trillion
Increase in Limit: $781 billion

P.L. 110-91
September 29th, 2007
New Limit: $9.815 trillion
Increase in Limit: $850 billion

P.L. 110-289
July 30th, 2008
New Limit: $10.615 trillion
Increase in Limit: $800 billion

P.L. 110-343
October 3rd, 2008
New Limit: $11.315 trillion
Increase in Limit: $700 billion

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In case you were wondering, the nation's debt ceiling has been raised three times (with a fourth coming soon) under President Obama.

Source: FAS.org - The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases (*.pdf)