When George W. Bush became president of the US, in 2001-2009, about 1.8 million civilians (postal workers not included) work in the executive branch. The same number was employed when John F. Kennedy won the White House. This number, however, was surpassed during Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama’s reelection in 1984 and 2012, with 2.2 and 2 million federal bureaucrats respectively.