The last time we had a surplus is because Bush Sr raised taxes right as the dot-com era took off. Bush Sr got absolutely savaged in the elections for repudiating his "No New Taxes" pledge. Clinton merely rearranged the tax brackets for better returns, though all of this happened with a Republican House, the actual body responsible for spending anyway, President gets way too much flak for the atrocious job the House of Representatives does for budgeting. The figure of the national debt commonly talked about is useless anyway, it will always be larger because of inflation over the years. A dollar in 1900 went a lot farther than a dollar does today.

I'm not exactly sure what would make a better measurement though... debt-to-gdp has the problem of being variable because of the Fed rates changing. The large national debt figure will mostly be dissolved by inflation, which is why focusing only on the immediate payments is more pragmatic a measuring stick.