It's not really important that the national debt get to zero. It's not even ideal. If, as a president, that's what you're focused on, then you're focused on the wrong things. Debt is a very, very useful tool for growth.

Like, consider the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of most of the Midwest US and Louisiana from the French. This was funded by debt. Was this a good investment? Abso-fuckin-lutely.

Anyone good with money is going to focus more on the quality of the investment overall, not just whether it is funded by debt or not. The debt just becomes part of the calculation.

A note: debt is a bit more dangerous for government when you're on a hard currency standard, compared to today, when US debt is denominated in US-gov't-issued dollars. But even on a gold standard, that doesn't mean you should always strive for zero debt, any more than a large corporation should.