The Debt-to-GDP Ratio, Historically

Until 1935, the ratio of debt to GDP was in the teens and 20s. That climbed into the 40s as FDR struggled to battle depression and prepare for WWI. It spiked during the war at 119% and broke below 90% in 1950. Then it gradually dropped into the low 50s and high 40s during the first half of the 1960s. It dropped into the 30s in the late 1960s and 1970s, and stayed in that range till 1985. After that, it gradually climbed as high as 65% in 1995, then went back down to 55% in 2000.