The Politics of Rich and Richer

"In this great nation, any boy or girl can grow up to be President, but it sure helps to get rich first.
"By the time he was elected President in 1860, Honest Abe, whose campaign made much of his poor, backwoods upbringing, had amassed a tidy nest egg - about $15,000, according to 'The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln,' by Harry E. Pratt. That made Lincoln one of the more prosperous citizens of Illinois and the country. And so it goes - and then some - with this year's crop of presidential candidates.
"The seven front-runners, those with the highest standing in the polls and the biggest campaign troves, all have assets that would place them in the nation's top 10% of households, and most of them in the top 0.5%."

In a December 2007 article, Marlys Harris of Money Magazine peaks in the presidential candidates' portfolios.