Presidential Comparison

Clinton vs Kennedy

Last updated: May 10th, 2024

This page has the comparisons between Clinton vs Kennedy across all the metrics we track. President Clinton and President Kennedy data are no longer in office. Their data has been set to be as equivalent by days in office to make a fair comparison of their performance. This accounts for presidents that had one term vs two terms, or presidents that had a much shortened term.

With respect to cumulative performance, Bill Clinton has performed better on 5 out of the 5 metrics we track.  President Clinton's highest performance difference was on the indicator NASDAQ Index performing 297.58% better than President Kennedy. President Clinton's lowest performance difference was on Job Growth performing 14.21% better than President Kennedy.

We highly recommend you read this article as well prior: What's the best way to interpret the facts and data on Facts First?

Clinton vs. Kennedy stock market performance

How does Clinton compare to Kennedy in the stock market? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized performance between Clinton and Kennedy in the stock market. Cumulatively across the S&P 500, Clinton is at 208.54% compared to Kennedy at 19.83% a difference of 188.71%. On the NASDAQ, Clinton is at 297.58% compared to Kennedy at N/A  a difference of N/A. Finally, on the DOW Jones, Clinton is at 225.17% compared to Kennedy at 15.85% a difference of 209.32%.

Index
Cumulative Performance
Bill ClintonJohn F. KennedyDifference
NASDAQ297.58%N/AN/A
DOW225.17%15.85%Clinton +209.32%
S&P208.54%19.83%Clinton +188.71%
Index
Annualized Performance
Bill ClintonJohn F. KennedyDifference
NASDAQ18.82%N/AN/A
DOW15.87%5.32%Clinton +10.55%
S&P15.11%6.58%Clinton +8.53%




Clinton vs. Kennedy GDP performance

How does Clinton compare to Kennedy with respect to GDP Growth? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized GDP growth. Cumulatively Clinton is at 34.23% compared to Kennedy at 15.92% a difference of 18.31%

GDP
Bill ClintonJohn F. KennedyDifference
Cumulative34.23%15.92%Clinton +18.31%
Annualized3.77%5.63%Clinton -1.86%


Clinton vs. Kennedy jobs growth performance

How does Clinton compare to Kennedy in non-farm payroll? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized jobs created. Cumulatively Clinton is at 20.86% compared to Kennedy at 6.65% a difference of 14.21%

Indicator
Cumulative Gain/Loss
Bill ClintonJohn F. KennedyDifference
Cumulative20.86%6.65%Clinton +14.21%
Annualized2.41%2.34%Clinton +0.07%


How do we calculate data for Clinton vs. Kennedy?

We capture the data as soon as it’s available to us – stock market data after daily market close, jobs data once a month and GDP data once a quarter. After verifying the raw data, we then calculate updated cumulative and annualized performance data for the current president (the data for previous presidents have been calculated and verified in advance).

Some metrics are measured daily (like stock market performance), monthly (like jobs growth) and quarterly (like GDP growth). We start measurement of performance for a president from the first full time period after their inauguration. For stock market performance, it is the first stock market day in office. For jobs growth, it’s either first full calendar month in office (so if you are inaugurated in the middle of January, the first full month is February). This ensures a consistent starting point across all presidencies.

Also, read these articles in our Learning Center:

Want to share our charts but need to verify our data?

We are happy to share the raw data and methodologies we use with any media organization that wants to link to or share our charts and data. If that is of interest to you, please contact us.

 (Due the amount of requests, we must limit inquiries and responses to media representatives only.)