On October 22, 1981, the national debt in the United States of America hit $1 trillion for the first time in history.
It had taken the US federal government over two centuries to reach that mark. And in that period, America had won its independence and built a nation from scratch.
They created an army and a navy, and used them both to aggressively expand the nation’s domain.
They fought an incredibly bloody civil war in dispute over the most fundamental concepts of freedom.
They engaged in worldwide imperialism, stretching the country’s influence to faraway overseas colonies.
They suffered through the Great Depression and introduced one of the most expensive public spending programs in history.
They fought two world wars and defeated the Nazis.
They developed nuclear technology. They sent people into space.
And all of that– across over two centuries of US history– collectively registered one trillion dollars in debt.
(More than half of that period was an era devoid of any income tax whatsoever!)
