Would Romney Be The Richest President Ever?

That was a question asked by the Huffington Post a while back.

WASHINGTON — Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you're in Romney territory.

He would be among the richest presidents in American history if elected – probably in the top four.

He couldn't top George Washington who, with nearly 60,000 acres and more than 300 slaves, is considered the big daddy of presidential wealth. After that, it gets complicated, depending how you rate Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Herbert Hoover's millions from mining or John F. Kennedy's share of the vast family fortune, as well as the finer points of factors like inflation adjustment.  But it's safe to say the Roosevelts had nothing on Romney, and the Bushes are nowhere close.

The former Massachusetts governor has disclosed only the broad outlines of his wealth, putting it somewhere from $190 million to $250 million. That easily could make him 50 times richer than Obama, who falls in the still-impressive-to-most-of-us range of $2.2 million to $7.5 million.

According to Forbes, the 10 Richest Presidents in order are:

1.  George Washington - The "Father" of our country whose small estate (60,000 acres!! and 300 slaves!!) would make him a multi-billionaire by today's standards.  A Virginian.

2.  Herbert Hoover - Who made millions ravaging the land and enslaving miners.

3.  Thomas Jefferson - The author of the Bill of Rights considered the black people he owned to be 2/3 of a person and fathered 2/3 of a child by at least one of them.  Another Virginian.

4.  John F. Kennedy - Whose tycoon father made his millions off of bootlegging during Prohibition.  Now there's an Irishman you've gotta love.

5.  Andrew Jackson - The heartless son-of-a-bitch who carried out his war of genocide against the Indians while telling the Supreme Court to kiss his ass when the Indians won their appeal there.  Funny, I have seen his homeplace, a tiny log cabin near Lancaster, South Carolina, where he grew up among the Indians.  You would think he would have had some feeling for them.

6.  Theodore Roosevelt - Inherited the Roosevelt manufacturing fortune.  Showboat who gets credit for founding the National Park Service.

7.  Zachary Taylor - Another plantation and slave owner.  This one from Kentucky.

8.  Franklin D. Roosevelt - Another Roosevelt inheritor.  Them Roosevelt's must've had a shit-load of money.

9.  Lyndon B. Johnson - Now here's a surprise.  Apparently made his money from owning the only TV station in Austin, TX and building it into a media empire.  The most interesting of all of the presidents to me.  Wealthy master of skullduggery who gave birth to the Great Society.  Go figure.

10.  James Madison - The real "Father" of the country without whom there would have been no Bill of Rights.  Another one of those plantation guys who didn't mind talking about freedom so long as they weren't his slaves.  Another Virginian.

So, according to Forbes, Mr. Romney would rank at or about #4 as the richest president.  However, you might ask, how would he fare in Congress?  But that's another story.