AdvertisementThe first debt ceiling fight was in 1953. It looked almost exactly like the one todayJune 01, 2023Stacey Vanek SmithfacebookEmailFormer President Eisenhower, addresses the nation on the American intervention in Formosa (now Taiwan) in an undated archival picture. Eisenhower was involved in the country's first debt ceiling fight when he asked Congress to raise the limit by $15 billion. The Senate refused, ushering the first tussle over the country's debt. (Getty Images)