President Andrew Jackson. The US started out in 1789 with a debt of $75M, a large sum for those days. Economists have calculated the ratio of debt to gross domestic product as 31% , as against today&#39;s ratio of 52%). The Govt paid off the debt until the last installment was paid in 1835. President Andrew Jackson reported to Congress that &#34;all that remains of the public debt has been redeemed,&#34; and then he revealed that the Treasury actually had a surplus of $19M.