# The tax rates from Eisenhower to Nixon

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The tax rates from Eisenhower to Nixon," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-tax-rates-from-eisenhower-to-nixon/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's explanation for the American wealth gap and the size of the deficit, that from Eisenhower through Nixon the top rate of tax ran upwards of seventy-five per cent and the wealthy whittled it down from there, whereas now they begin at almost nothing and whittle down from that.*

- **The period:** Dwight Eisenhower through Richard Nixon
- **Top rate then:** Upwards of 75% for the wealthiest, before write-offs
- **Now:** 'They pay almost nothing to begin with and whittle it down from there'
- **The consequence he draws:** The size of the deficits and the existence of the wealth gap
- **On Nixon''s economics:** 'God bless Richard Nixon and his economic policy'
- **The wage and price controls:** Credited by the co-host''s mother with saving her, though she hated the man

**The tax rates from Eisenhower to Nixon** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s explanation for two things he treats as the same problem: the size of the federal deficit and the concentration of American wealth.

## The argument

Provoked by a viewer's observation that the wealth gap was at its smallest and the middle class at its strongest in 1973, Kiriakou made two points. The first was a blessing: *"God bless Richard Nixon and his economic policy, number one."*[1]

The second was the rate structure. *"Starting with Dwight Eisenhower and going through Nixon, tax rates were the highest against the wealthiest people"*, *"the basic tax rate for the wealthiest people was upwards of 75%, and they could whittle it down from there."* He grants that the same write-offs existed then as now.[1][2]

What changed is the starting point rather than the loopholes: *"now they pay almost nothing to begin with and whittle it down from there. And then we can't understand why our deficits are so enormous and why there's such a wealth gap. That's why there's a wealth gap."*[2]

## The wages of the period

Kiriakou anchors the argument in a childhood memory rather than a statistic. *"One of my earliest memories, my dad came home one day, I think I was four. My dad came home one day and he said to my mom, 'Honey, I got a raise.' And she said, 'You did?' And he shows her this letter. And he was making $6,800 a year. And then I remember my mom saying, 'Just imagine, honey, if you could make 7,000, we'd be on easy street.'"*[3][4]

## See also

- [Progressive taxation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/progressive-taxation)
- [Wealth concentration](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/wealth-concentration)
- [The nine months on food stamps](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-nine-months-on-food-stamps)
- [Kiriakou's father and grandfather](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-father-and-grandfather)
- [Youngstown Sheet and Tube](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/youngstown-sheet-and-tube)

## Sources

1. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 44:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=2678s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
2. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 45:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=2711s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
3. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 46:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=2773s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
4. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 46:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=2803s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-tax-rates-from-eisenhower-to-nixon/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt