The Net Worth of the American Presidents: Washington to Trump

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

James Knox Polk
> Term: 1845-1849 (11th president)
> Peak net worth (in current dollars): $11.1 million

Like his wife, Sarah Childress, Polk’s father was a wealthy plantation owner and speculator. Polk made significant sums as speaker of the house and governor of Tennessee, and owned 920 acres in Coffeeville, Mississippi, as well as 25 slaves.

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Zachary Taylor
> Term: 1849-1850 (12th president)
> Peak net worth (in current dollars): $7.1 million

Taylor inherited significant amounts of land from his family, which at one point included property in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana. He made substantial money in land speculation, the leasing of warehouses, and investments in bank and utility stocks. Taylor owned a sizeable plantation in Mississippi and a home in Baton Rouge.

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Millard Fillmore
> Term: 1850-1853) (13th president)
> Peak net worth (in current dollars): $4.0 million

Neither Fillmore nor his wife had significant inheritance. He founded a college that is the currently the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his primary holding was a house in nearby East Aurora, New York.

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Franklin Pierce
> Term: 1853-1857 (14th president)
> Peak net worth (in current dollars): $2.0 million

Pierce’s father was frontier farmer, and his wife was a well-to-do aristocrat. He had a background in law and held property in Concord, New Hampshire.

Source: National Archives / Getty Images

James Buchanan
> Term: 1857-1861 (15th president)
> Peak net worth (in current dollars): < $1 million

Born in a log cabin in Pennsylvania, Buchanan was one of 11 children. He was the only president never to marry. He worked for nine years as attorney, and spent 16 years in public office, including four years as secretary of state.