Gas Prices by President

Quick Facts

A Century at the Pump

Every presidency is a band in its party's colour. Hover or focus the chart and use the arrow keys to read any point; the inflation-adjusted line shows how much of the climb is simply the dollar shrinking.

What Moved the Price

17 episodes that pushed the pump price hard one way or the other, numbered to match the markers under the chart. Price moves are computed from the data for each window; the causes are summarised from the linked sources.

1. 1

   1. Onset of the Great Depression

   Recession▼ Prices fellOct 1929 – Mar 1933

   Collapsing demand pushed the pump price down through the Depression's first years; a first federal gasoline tax of one cent per gallon arrived in 1932.

   Pump price $0.21 → $0.18 (−14.3%) · Low $0.17 in 1931 avg.

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Herbert Hoover

2. 2

   2. World War II gasoline rationing

   War— Little changeMay 1942 – Aug 1945

   Rationing began on the East Coast in May 1942 and went nationwide that December; with federal price controls, the pump price stayed almost flat and supply was limited by coupon rather than by price.

   Pump price $0.20 → $0.21 (+5.0%)

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman

3. 3

   3. Korean War

   War▲ Prices roseJun 1950 – Jul 1953

   Wartime demand and the end of Korean-era price controls nudged the pump price up modestly.

   Pump price $0.27 → $0.29 (+7.1%) · Peak $0.29 in 1953 avg.

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower

4. 4

   4. 1973 Arab oil embargo

   Oil shock▲ Prices roseOct 1973 – Mar 1974

   Arab OPEC members embargoed oil exports to the United States after the Yom Kippur War; prices jumped by a third within months and stations ran dry.

   Pump price $0.40 → $0.53 (+31.3%) · Peak $0.53 in Mar 1974

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Richard Nixon

5. 5

   5. 1979 oil crisis

   Oil shock▲ Prices roseJan 1979 – Mar 1981

   Iran's revolution, then the Iran–Iraq war, cut supply; the pump price roughly doubled and peaked in early 1981 after federal price controls were lifted.

   Pump price $0.72 → $1.42 (+97.9%) · Peak $1.42 in Mar 1981

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan

6. 6

   6. 1986 oil price collapse

   Oil shock▼ Prices fellNov 1985 – Jul 1986

   Saudi Arabia abandoned its output limits and crude prices collapsed, taking the pump price down by about a quarter.

   Pump price $1.21 → $0.89 (−26.3%) · Low $0.89 in Apr 1986

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Ronald Reagan

7. 7

   7. Gulf War

   War◆ Spike, then fallAug 1990 – Feb 1991

   Iraq's invasion of Kuwait sent prices sharply higher within weeks; they fell back once the war ended.

   Pump price $1.19 → $1.14 (−3.9%) · Peak $1.38 in Oct 1990

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: George H. W. Bush

8. 8

   8. Asian financial crisis and 1998 oil glut

   Recession▼ Prices fellJul 1997 – Feb 1999

   Falling Asian demand met rising OPEC output and crude fell below $12 a barrel; U.S. gasoline reached its cheapest level ever once inflation is counted.

   Pump price $1.21 → $0.95 (−20.7%) · Low $0.95 in Feb 1999

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: Bill Clinton

9. 9

   9. September 11 attacks and 2001 recession

   Recession▼ Prices fellSep 2001 – Dec 2001

   After brief panic buying, air travel and the wider economy slumped and the pump price fell through the end of 2001.

   Pump price $1.53 → $1.13 (−26.1%) · Low $1.13 in Dec 2001

   Source: Wikipedia

   In office: George W. Bush

10. 10

    10. Iraq War

    War▼ Prices fellMar 2003 – May 2003

    Prices peaked in the run-up to the invasion and eased once major combat operations ended.

    Pump price $1.75 → $1.54 (−11.8%) · Low $1.54 in May 2003

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: George W. Bush

11. 11

    11. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

    Disaster▲ Prices roseAug 2005 – Oct 2005

    Katrina, then Rita, knocked out Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines; the national average jumped within weeks before easing as repairs finished.

    Pump price $2.51 → $2.79 (+11.1%) · Peak $2.93 in Sep 2005

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: George W. Bush

12. 12

    12. 2008 oil spike and financial crisis

    Recession◆ Spike, then fallJan 2008 – Dec 2008

    Crude hit $147 a barrel in July 2008, then the financial crisis crushed demand; from its July peak the pump price fell by more than half in five months.

    Pump price $3.05 → $1.69 (−44.6%) · Peak $4.09 in Jul 2008

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: George W. Bush

13. 13

    13. Arab Spring and Libyan civil war

    War▲ Prices roseFeb 2011 – May 2011

    Libya's oil output went offline during its civil war and the U.S. average climbed toward $4.

    Pump price $3.17 → $3.93 (+24.2%) · Peak $3.93 in May 2011

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: Barack Obama

14. 14

    14. 2014–16 oil price crash

    Oil shock▼ Prices fellJun 2014 – Feb 2016

    U.S. shale output surged and OPEC declined to cut; crude fell from over $100 to under $30 and the pump price roughly halved.

    Pump price $3.69 → $1.77 (−52.2%) · Low $1.77 in Feb 2016

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: Barack Obama

15. 15

    15. COVID-19 pandemic

    Pandemic▼ Prices fellMar 2020 – May 2020

    Lockdowns erased demand almost overnight; crude futures briefly traded below zero and gasoline fell to its lowest since 2016.

    Pump price $2.27 → $1.88 (−17.1%) · Low $1.88 in Apr 2020

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: Donald Trump

16. 16

    16. Russia's invasion of Ukraine

    War▲ Prices roseFeb 2022 – Jun 2022

    Sanctions and supply fears pushed crude above $120 a barrel; the U.S. average set its all-time nominal record in June 2022.

    Pump price $3.59 → $5.06 (+40.8%) · Peak $5.06 in Jun 2022

    Source: Wikipedia

    In office: Joe Biden

17. 17

    17. Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure

    War▲ Prices roseFeb 2026 – present

    U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began on 28 February 2026, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait of Hormuz closed on 2 March, cutting tanker traffic by about 95% on a route that carries more than a third of the world's seaborne crude. Crude topped $100 a barrel within days; a June interim deal briefly restored some traffic before attacks on shipping and U.S. strikes resumed in July, and the strait remained effectively closed as of early October 2026.

    Pump price $3.06 → $4.35 in Aug 2026 (+41.9%) · Peak $4.79 in May 2026

    Still unfolding — figures run to Aug 2026 and update monthly.

    Sources: Wikipedia · Al Jazeera

    In office: Donald J. Trump

By President

The price in the month each president took office and in the month they left, the change between the two, and the average over the whole term. The month a president takes office counts as theirs, so a handover month belongs to the incoming president; the “on leaving” figure is that handover month, which is why a president’s own peak can sit below it.

U.S. average regular gasoline price at the start and end of each presidency since 1929, with the change and the term average.

#	President	Term	At inauguration	On leaving	Change	Averagenominal · 2026 $
31	Herbert Hoover, Republican	1929–1933	$0.211929 avg.	$0.181933 avg.	−14.3%	$0.19$4.09
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democratic	1933–1945	$0.181933 avg.	$0.211945 avg.	+16.7%	$0.19$4.44
33	Harry S. Truman, Democratic	1945–1953	$0.211945 avg.	$0.291953 avg.	+36.7%	$0.25$3.62
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican	1953–1961	$0.291953 avg.	$0.311961 avg.	+7.3%	$0.30$3.60
35	John F. Kennedy, Democratic	1961–1963	$0.311961 avg.	$0.301963 avg.	−1.3%	$0.31$3.39
36	Lyndon B. Johnson, Democratic	1963–1969	$0.301963 avg.	$0.351969 avg.	+14.5%	$0.32$3.30
37	Richard Nixon, Republican	1969–1974	$0.351969 avg.	$0.55Aug 1974	+59.2%	$0.38$3.09
38	Gerald Ford, Republican	1974–1977	$0.55Aug 1974	$0.63Jan 1977	+13.2%	$0.58$3.57
39	Jimmy Carter, Democratic	1977–1981	$0.63Jan 1977	$1.30Jan 1981	+107.0%	$0.87$4.07
40	Ronald Reagan, Republican	1981–1989	$1.30Jan 1981	$0.92Jan 1989	−29.3%	$1.14$3.71
41	George H. W. Bush, Republican	1989–1993	$0.92Jan 1989	$1.12Jan 1993	+21.7%	$1.11$2.81
42	Bill Clinton, Democratic	1993–2001	$1.12Jan 1993	$1.47Jan 2001	+31.8%	$1.20$2.53
43	George W. Bush, Republican	2001–2009	$1.47Jan 2001	$1.79Jan 2009	+21.4%	$2.16$3.67
44	Barack Obama, Democratic	2009–2017	$1.79Jan 2009	$2.35Jan 2017	+31.6%	$2.97$4.35
45	Donald Trump, Republican	2017–2021	$2.35Jan 2017	$2.33Jan 2021	−1.1%	$2.49$3.30
46	Joe Biden, Democratic	2021–2025	$2.33Jan 2021	$3.21Jan 2025	+38.0%	$3.56$4.04
47	Donald J. Trump, Republican	2025–so far	$3.21Jan 2025	$4.35latest · Aug 2026	+35.4%	$3.56$3.65

By Four-Year Term

The same data cut by constitutional term — from the last March-4 inauguration in 1929 to the January-20 terms that followed the 20th Amendment. Terms split by a death or resignation list both presidents.

By Party

Only two parties have held the presidency since 1929. Each card pools every month its presidents were in office. The annualised figure compounds the month-to-month changes that happened on each party's watch.

Pump prices track global crude-oil markets, refinery capacity, taxes, the dollar and recessions far more than White House policy, and the party averages are dominated by which decades each party happened to govern. Treat the comparison as a curiosity.

Methodology & Sources

• Prices are U.S. city averages for regular-grade gasoline, in dollars per gallon including taxes, from the EIA Monthly Energy Review, Table 9.4: leaded regular through 1975 and unleaded regular from 1976, when the two series are spliced. Monthly figures begin in October 1973; each earlier month uses that year's annual average.
• Annual prices for 1929–1948 come from the U.S. Department of Energy, Fact of the Week #915 (archived copy), rounded to the cent in the original.
• Inflation adjustment uses the BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, all items), expressed in today's dollars — the price level of Aug 2026, the latest published month — and labelled “2026dollars” throughout. The basis moves forward automatically whenever the data is refreshed. October 2025 was never published because of the 2025 lapse in appropriations and is interpolated from September and November.
• The month a president takes office counts as theirs, so each handover month belongs to the incoming president. “At inauguration” and “on leaving” are the averages for those two months; “on leaving” is therefore the first month of the successor’s term. The sitting president's figures run to Aug 2026 and will change.
• Events are curated from the linked sources; the price moves beside them are computed from the same dataset. Many factors move pump prices at once, so an event marks a coincidence in time, not a sole cause.
• The dataset is refreshed automatically each month from the sources above (a scheduled job regenerates it, re-runs every check, and republishes the site only if they pass); the current year's annual figure is a year-to-date mean of the published months.