About & method

The window: Clinton to present

Every chart covers the same six presidential terms, Clinton (1993) to the present: Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump's first term, Biden, and Trump's second term (in progress). One consistent window makes the charts comparable and keeps the framing honest, and it is far enough back to predate any single administration's era. Where a longer history matters, it is noted on the chart, but the bars stop at Clinton.

How to read the charts

• The accent marks the standout, whoever it is. The burnt-orange bar is simply the largest (or most notable) value in the chart, not a verdict about a party or a person. On some charts that is Trump; on others it is Bush (signing statements, surveillance orders) or Obama (deportations, the Libya intervention); on a few the bars are flat and nothing is accented (national emergencies).
• Trump's second term is always flagged. It is a partial, in-progress term, marked with an asterisk and never annualized in a way that pretends it is a completed record.
• Ranges mean the count is genuinely contested. Where reasonable analysts count differently (for example, unauthorized military action), the chart shows a range and says so rather than inventing a single precise number.
• Interpretation is opt-in. The chart, the data table, and the sources are always visible. Where the site offers a reading of what the numbers mean, it is tucked into a collapsible “Analysis” section so you can see the numbers first and form your own view.

Measurements, not arguments

The aim is captions, not op-eds: a sentence that only works as a description of the data, not as an argument that would read the same in an editorial. Charts rely on institutional records, court filings, government reports, and reputable trackers, all cited in each chart's footer. Excluded by design: uncharged allegations from investigative file releases, “mentions” counts, and any metric that cannot be measured the same way across the window. When a comparison genuinely cannot be made fairly, the site says so and shows documented examples instead of a false ranking (as on the revolving-door page).

Known biases and definitional choices are printed on the chart they affect, not hidden in a methodology appendix. Several charts exist specifically to complicate a one-sided reading, and the fairness notes that do that stay visible by default.

The Elections section, the Who watched the bailouts page, and the Protections rolled back page are exceptions. They make arguments, and say so on the page: the Elections section argues that proven voter fraud is far too rare to justify new barriers to voting, the oversight page that watchdogs over bailout money have been deliberately weakened since 2020, and the rollbacks page that the 2025–26 rollbacks removed protections whose value the government itself measured. The Corruption tracker goes further: it is a record, president by president since Clinton, of profit from office, court findings, pardons, and the use of government power against critics. Donald Trump’s page is by far the longest. Its entries are still individually sourced, labeled documented, reported, or alleged, and carry the responses of the people involved. The standards still apply: every number is sourced, and each page shows the strongest evidence on the other side, including findings that cut against the argument.

Sources, dating & corrections

Every chart lists its sources in the footer, and the Sources page collects all of them in one place with links to the primary documents. Figures are current as of August 2026; where a number is a documented floor (the visible fraction of a total, not an estimate of the whole), it is labeled as such. Pending legal matters and partial-term figures will change, and charts note where that is true. Corrections are welcome, especially where a newer primary source supersedes a figure shown here.