In the Eisenhower years marginal tax rates for the lowest brackets floated at between 20 and 26 percent; unlike today, working people on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder paid income taxes, in addition to social security payroll taxes. But rates were progressive: the moderately well-off paid much more. A head of household who earned $20,000 in 1953—the equivalent of $175,000 today—faced a marginal tax rate of 52 percent. As for the very wealthy, they were soaked. The top marginal rate was 91 percent in 1953, though very few Americans made enough money (over $200,000) to qualify for that
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