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2018-2019 (President Donald Trump): December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019 - 34 days

2018 (President Donald Trump): January 20 to January 23 - 3 days

2018 (President Donald Trump): February 9 – 1 day.

2013 (President Barack Obama): October 1 to October. 17 - 16 days

1995-1996 (President Bill Clinton): December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996, - 21 days

1995 (President Bill Clinton): Nov. 14 to 19 - 5 days

1990 (President George H.W. Bush): October 5 to 9 - 3 days

1987 (President Ronald Reagan): December 18 to December 20 - 1 day

1986 (President Ronald Reagan): October 16 to October 18 - 1 day

1984 (President Ronald Reagan): October 3 to October 5 - 1 day

1984 (President Ronald Reagan): September 30 to October 3 - 2 days

1983 (President Ronald Reagan): November 10 to November 14 - 3 days

1982 (President Ronald Reagan): December 17 to December 21 - 3 days

1982 (President Ronald Reagan): September 30 to October 2 - 1 day

1981 (President Ronald Reagan): November 20 to November 23 - 2 days

1979 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 12 - 11 days

1978 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 18 18 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): November 30 to December 9 - 8 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): October 31 to November 9 - 8 days

1977 (President Jimmy Carter): September 30 to October 13 - 12 days

1976 (President Gerald Ford): September 30 to October 11 - 10 days




Shutdowns only, with descriptions of them following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_Un...

All US funding gaps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_...

(this is not in contradiction of the parent poster—just providing convenient further-reading links for others)


ty, if I could fit those charts into a comment here I would.


So what happened between 1996 and 2013 to make the debt ceiling not a perennial issue?


Clinton left office with federal budget surplus. Bush 2.0 started decades long global conflicts.

On top of that, Republicans controlled the House and Senate for almost the entire period from 1997 to 2013. There wasn't a split congress.

The next shutdown to occur was a show of Republican chest beating in protest of ACA funding.


The shutdown of '96 was remembered as a key issue that drove voters to the polls and cost the Republicans a chance to unseat Clinton for a second term. After that, they lost their taste for it during the remainder of his Presidency.

It may have continued from 2001 onward, but September 11 caused massive realignment in political strategy for years; anyone seen as causing the government's basic functions to stumble while terrorists threatened America would have suffered a colossal political black-eye.

I couldn't guess off the top of my head why 2013 became the year Congressional leadership decided this was a game worth playing again.


No split control of Congress.


Thanks, great breakdown! Where did you source this from?




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