Barack Obama is all set to make his case at the Democratic National Convention for why Americans should give him a second term in office. One chart that you are unlikely to see (but should) is a comparison of his first 1,325 days in office to other Presidents since 1900. As shown in the chart below, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 66.8% since Obama took office, making it the fifth best stock market return during a President's first 1,325 days in office since 1900. The only four other Presidents who saw better returns in their first 1,325 days were FDR, Coolidge, Eisenhower, and Clinton.
While the stock market returns during his time in office are impressive enough, an even more interesting statistic is how the equity market has performed during the first 1,325 days in office for Democrats versus Republicans. Of the eleven Republicans since 1900, the DJIA has averaged a gain of 20.4% during their first 1,325 days in office. That may sound good, but for the eight Democratic Presidents since 1900, the DJIA has seen an average return of 54.9%, or more than two and a half times the average return of Republicans! While President Obama may have a hard time running for re-election based on the performance of the economy, he could certainly run on the performance of the market.
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