Quote from Humpy:
More on debt
Debt held by the public reached 49.5% of GDP at the beginning of President Clinton's first term. However, it fell to 34.5% of GDP by the end of Clinton's presidency due in part to decreased military spending, increased taxes (in 1990, 1993 and 1997), and increased tax revenue resulting from the Dot-com bubble.[9][14][15][16][17] The budget controls instituted in the 1990s successfully restrained fiscal action by the Congress and the President and together with economic growth contributed to the budget surpluses at the end of the decade.[18]
In the early 21st century, debt relative to GDP rose again due in part to the Bush tax cuts and increased military spending caused by the wars in the Middle East. During the presidency of George W. Bush, debt held by the public increased from $3,339 billion in September 2001 to $6,369 billion by the end of 2008,[4][19] In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, debt held by the public increased to $11.12 trillion by the end of July 2012 under the presidency of Barack Obama.[20][4]