Coolidge inherited a budget surplus of $700 million, but also a federal debt of $22.3 billion, with most of that debt having been accumulated in World War I. Federal spending remained flat during Coolidge's administration, contributing to the retirement of about one-fourth of the federal debt. Coolidge would be the last president to significantly reduce the total amount of federal debt until Bill Clinton's tenure in the 1990s, although intervening presidents would preside over a reduction of debt in proportion to the country's gross domestic product.
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