Housing & cost of living
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Department of Housing and Urban Development created 1965. Robert Weaver as first HUD Secretary (first African American Cabinet member). Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act 1966.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Cabinet-level HUD established under LBJ; first Cabinet-level African American (Weaver) appointed simultaneously.
hud.gov ↗
FHA created (1934), enabled 30-year mortgages and mass middle-class homeownership. Housing Act of 1937 funded public housing. BUT: FHA redlining maps systematically excluded Black neighborhoods, creating a 50-year structural inequity.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
FHA made homeownership accessible to millions of white Americans while redlining maps explicitly excluded Black neighborhoods, locking in racial wealth gaps for decades.
congress.gov ↗
Housing Act of 1949 — major federal housing legislation. Continued FHA mortgage expansion with continued redlining. Postwar housing boom enabled by federal underwriting.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Housing Act 1949 declared 'a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family' as national policy; FHA continued explicitly racist underwriting through Truman's term.
congress.gov ↗
Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956) enabled suburban expansion. FHA continued mortgage underwriting with continued redlining. Housing Act 1954 redirected federal funds to urban renewal — controversial impact on Black neighborhoods.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Federal-Aid Highway Act funded ~$25B in interstate construction over a decade, enabling suburban expansion but also destroying urban (often Black) neighborhoods in many cities.
congress.gov ↗
Housing Act of 1961 expanded public housing. Continued FHA expansion with continued redlining.
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- good·Tier 2·Primary document·Unverified
1961 Housing Act expanded federal housing programs modestly; redlining practices continued.
congress.gov ↗
Empowerment Zones program. HOPE VI public housing reform — substantial demolition of public housing units. Strong economy lifted housing access overall.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
HOPE VI demolished ~140,000 public housing units and rebuilt ~57,000, controversial reduction in public housing stock.
hud.gov ↗
Section 8 voucher program created via Housing and Community Development Act 1974 (signed by Ford one week after Nixon resignation; Nixon administration developed). Housing moratorium (1973) suspended public housing construction.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Section 8 vouchers became the central federal low-income housing program for next 50+ years; Nixon administration's earlier housing moratorium suspended new public housing construction for political reasons.
congress.gov ↗
Section 8 program expansion (drafted Nixon, signed by Ford August 1974). Housing inflation pressures.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Ford signed Section 8 voucher program one week into his term (originally Nixon-era legislation).
congress.gov ↗
Modest housing programs. HOPE program (1990) homeownership for low-income. S&L crisis resolution continued from late Reagan era.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1990 Affordable Housing Act created HOPE program and continued federal housing programs at modest level.
congress.gov ↗
Mortgage interest rates peaked 18%+ (1981). HUD scandals. Housing market severely stressed by inflation/interest rates.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
30-year fixed mortgage rates peaked at 18.5% in October 1981 (just after Carter term) due to Volcker monetary tightening initiated in 1979.
federalreserve.gov ↗
Foreclosure crisis response inadequate (HAMP underwhelming). Banks bailed out but homeowners less so. Eviction crisis. Mixed.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
HAMP fell far short of original 3-4 million homeowner target (~1.8 million permanent modifications); foreclosure crisis response widely criticized as inadequate compared to bank rescue.
sigtarp.gov ↗
Housing affordability crisis severe. Inflation impacts on cost of living. Rental assistance distributed. Modest federal response.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Housing inflation reached historic highs during Biden term; federal emergency rental assistance distributed ~$46B but affordability crisis worsened overall.
bls.gov ↗
COVID-era housing stress. Eviction moratorium under CDC. Affordable housing budgets cut. Carson HUD reduced fair-housing enforcement.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
CDC eviction moratorium protected ~30 million renters from eviction during COVID-19; legal authority contested, struck down by SCOTUS August 2021.
cdc.gov ↗
Housing bubble (2003-2007) → 2008 crash. Subprime crisis. Foreclosure crisis. HUD oversight failures. Major harm.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
FCIC found housing bubble and subprime crisis were enabled by lax federal regulatory enforcement during GW Bush term; bubble's collapse caused 2008 financial crisis.
fcic.law.stanford.edu ↗
Housing affordability remained elevated. Tariffs raised construction costs. HUD reductions. Modest federal housing response.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
HUD substantially reduced; tariff regime raised construction-material costs; housing affordability crisis continued.
hud.gov ↗
HUD budget cut from $33B (1981) to $14B (1989) — federal housing funding cut ~75% in real terms. Homelessness rose dramatically (estimated ~250K in 1981 to 500K-1M by 1989). HUD scandal (Pierce) emerged late.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Federal housing budget cut approximately 75% in real terms during Reagan years; homelessness as a visible federal-policy concern emerged directly from these cuts combined with deinstitutionalization.
hud.gov ↗