Blank check drawn on the National City Bank of New York, account # 1, and signed by President John F. Kennedy. It was carried by his Secret Service detail during his fateful trip to Dallas, where he was assassinated in 1963. When Kennedy traveled, Secret Service agents kept signed checks in their possession in case the President wanted to purchase something personally.
Museum of American Finance abilities as presidents, all came from such different backgrounds.
FDR was born into great wealth, and he lived off a trust fund managed by his mother. Lincoln started out as one of the poorest presidents. Yet he worked hard to learn how to manage money, diligently saving US Treasury bonds during the Civil War. Even though Kennedy also came from great wealth, he was known for being frugal when it came to money, especially since“ everybody thought he had it made.” He would even“ give orders to the butlers at the White House not to open bottles of champagne until the last one was finished” as a cost-saving measure.
When it comes down to who of the three was most successful with their personal finances, the truth is it was probably Lincoln. The stories of how the presidents handled their own personal finances are fascinating. Every presidential cycle, the potential contenders release their finances and submit paperwork explaining their financial lives. It’ s gotten to the point where there are law firms that specialize in helping with these disclosures. The subject is interesting partly because Americans want to know whether the individuals who run the country are fiscally sound, and partly because these financial disclosures often reveal more intimate( and at
times, embarrassing) details of their lives.
The United States has a long history of the presidents being on money— going all the way back to 1813 when James Madison appeared on $ 5,000 Treasurer bearer notes( and George Washington resigning his commission on the back). In 1869, the US Treasury decided to put George Washington and Thomas Jefferson on the $ 1 and $ 2 bills, respectively. Since then, Americans have become accustomed to the presidents being the“ face” of the nation’ s currency, but ironically, most have little idea of how the presidents learned the skills to handle their personal financial matters. In fact, their individual money stories are largely unknown.
Many US presidents have been selfmade and came from humble beginnings. Like Lincoln, they were able to climb to the top of the nation’ s economic and social ladder through a combination of ambition and skill— the classic American success story. But others struggled with a lot of the same money issues people do today.
For example, Dwight D. Eisenhower supplemented his Army salary for years with a $ 100 monthly stipend from his father-in-law( and Ike would not want anyone to know that). Conversely, William McKinley, upon winning his first law case, tried to give back the $ 25 his senior law partner had paid him, as he felt it was too much.( McKinley wasn’ t focused on money as much as the social mobility his career provided.) And Lyndon B. Johnson wrote to a friend in the early 1940s that“ I waked [ sic ] up worrying about money,” yet he still bought $ 195 custom-made suits on a regular basis($ 4,000 in 2024 dollars).
Financial Fragility and Financial Resilience
In the academics of personal finance, two concepts that are regularly studied are that of financial fragility and financial resilience. In fact, when one reads articles about personal finance, thematically, most focus on how people can evolve from a position of fragility into one of resiliency. It is a journey that most Americans struggle with— and it isn’ t getting better.
In modern times, financial fragility is defined as“ being unable to cope with [ an ] emergency expense in a short period of time.” A 2013 Federal Reserve study showed that only half of all Americans can handle an unexpected $ 400 expense. Think about that— it could be something like a car repair or a sick child that could tilt many Americans into fragility. In fact, the number improved dramatically to 68 %
32 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2026 | www. MoAF. org