One of my sources is the one you cite. Another is https://www.usgovernmentdebt.us/us_deficit. The deficit for FY2009 was indeed 1.4 trillion but since Bush was president for only the first 3 months of that Fiscal Year, Bush and Obama share responsibility for that deficit. Most economists agree that the driving force behind the size of the deficit that year was Obama's continuation of Bush policies and spending along with the stimulus bill and other additional spending. The spending that created the deficit was first passed by congress, democrats, and signed by both Bush and Obama. Deficits did not come down appreciably during Obama's first term until after Oct. 2012, after republicans regained control of the house and spending under the stimulus bill ended.  You are correct that Bush started with a surplus of 13 billion but then there was a slight recession caused by the burst of the dot.com bubble and then 9/11 happened which had a major impact on the economy.