Presidential Comparison

Johnson vs Bush

Last updated: May 16th, 2024

This page has the comparisons between Johnson vs Bush across all the metrics we track. President Johnson and President Bush 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, Lyndon B. Johnson has performed better on 5 out of the 5 metrics we track.  President Johnson's highest performance difference was on the indicator S & P 500 Index performing 79.14% better than President Bush. President Johnson's lowest performance difference was on GDP performing 15.84% better than President Bush.

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

Johnson vs. Bush stock market performance

How does Johnson compare to Bush in the stock market? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized performance between Johnson and Bush in the stock market. Cumulatively across the S&P 500, Johnson is at 42.46% compared to Bush at -36.68% a difference of 79.14%. On the NASDAQ, Johnson is at N/A compared to Bush at -44.80%  a difference of N/A. Finally, on the DOW Jones, Johnson is at 27.69% compared to Bush at -21.78% a difference of 49.48%.

Index
Cumulative Performance
Lyndon B. JohnsonGeorge W BushDifference
NASDAQN/A-44.80%N/A
DOW27.69%-21.78%Johnson +49.48%
S&P42.46%-36.68%Johnson +79.14%
Index
Annualized Performance
Lyndon B. JohnsonGeorge W BushDifference
NASDAQN/A-7.16%N/A
DOW4.85%-3.03%Johnson +7.88%
S&P7.10%-5.55%Johnson +12.65%




Johnson vs. Bush GDP performance

How does Johnson compare to Bush with respect to GDP Growth? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized GDP growth. Cumulatively Johnson is at 30.46% compared to Bush at 14.62% a difference of 15.84%

GDP
Lyndon B. JohnsonGeorge W BushDifference
Cumulative30.46%14.62%Johnson +15.84%
Annualized5.33%1.73%Johnson +3.60%


Johnson vs. Bush jobs growth performance

How does Johnson compare to Bush in non-farm payroll? We share the facts on cumulative and annualized jobs created. Cumulatively Johnson is at 21.28% compared to Bush at 1.02% a difference of 20.26%

Indicator
Cumulative Gain/Loss
Lyndon B. JohnsonGeorge W BushDifference
Cumulative21.28%1.02%Johnson +20.26%
Annualized3.84%0.13%Johnson +3.71%


How do we calculate data for Johnson vs. Bush?

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:

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