The United States of America. Yes, really. "On Jan. 8, 1835, all the big political names in Washington gathered to celebrate what President Andrew Jackson had just accomplished. A senator rose to make the big announcement: "Gentlemen ... the national debt ... is PAID.""

"When Jackson took office, the national debt was about $58 million. Six years later, it was all gone. Paid off. And the government was actually running a surplus, taking in more money than it was spending."

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/04/15/135423586/when-the-u-s-paid-off-the-entire-national-debt-and-why-it-didnt-last

The one and only time the US of A was completely debt-free and running on a surplus that they literally did not know what to do with. notice the bankers' involvement in the ending of those few moments of sanity.

You're clueless. I am of the right as you call it. I am self-employed. Counting Social Security I pay almost half my money in taxes. Add that ridiculous Obamacare and it's well over half. The original tax plan proposed exempted the first $24,000 in income from being counted as income. I don't know about you but that would help me tremendously. As far as tax cuts go, follow me here, tax cuts go to those who pay taxes, or should. However;
if I was in congress I would demand for every $1.00 cut in tax $.50 would be cut from the Federal Budget. People get tax relief and the dollar becomes stronger.

A contributor was wondering what impact a rise in interest rates would have on the US national debt...

"Imagine what the impact will be if rates returned to historic levels? E.H."

Good question, prompting the scary answer:

"Dear E.H. Not “if” rates returned to normal levels. It’s “when” they return to normal levels because that day will come."

Financial Armageddon, anyone?

https://nypost.com/2017/11/19/what-will-happen-to-us-debt-if-interest-rates-return-to-historic-levels/

As long as the US has a National Debt of $20 Trillion, interests will be kept at historic lows... If the US ever again balances it's budget. then we will see better returns on our savings of the now less than 1%.

Some interesting facts:

As of July 31, 2017 the federal government’s total debt stands at $19.845 trillion
The nation’s debt is now bigger than its gross domestic product (GDP)
Net interest payments on the debt are estimated to total $276.2 billion this fiscal year (2017)...

According to the Treasury Department, the average interest rate on the public debt was 2.232%

Under current law, CBO projects that net interest costs will more than double over the next 10 years, soaring from $270 billion in 2017 to $712 billion in 2026 and totaling $4.8 trillion over the period.

Doom and Gloom, but not necessarily. We’ve been here before:

The Motley Fool

But there's another side to the story I've been thinking about, and it quiets the doom-and-gloom narrative down quickly.
The nation's finances have been here before. Worse, even. In 1946, just after World War II, public debt stood at 109% of GDP, compared with 77% today. And short-term interest rates hovered around 0%, just as they do today.
But from 1945 to 1980, interest rates surged from 0% to more than 11%. This is exactly what we fear happening today.
What did this rate spike do to the country's interest-payment bill? From start to finish, basically nothing:
• National debt was much higher in 1945 than it is now (in relation to the size of the economy).
• From 1945 to 1980, interest rates rose from 0% to 11%.
• This did virtually nothing to the real cost of paying interest on the national debt.
How can this be?

It's simple: We grew the economy faster than interest rates rose.

The government ran a deficit in 28 of the 35 years between 1945 and 1980, and national debt rose from $235 billion to $711 billion. But during that period, GDP (the size of the economy) increased from $227 billion to $2.9 trillion. So while the national debt a little more than doubled, the size of the economy increased more than tenfold.

Full article https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/16/what-happens-to-the-national-debt-when-interest-ra.aspx

And this is exactly what Trump is trying to do… Grow our Economy faster than Interests Rates rise… His plan is Jobs, jobs, jobs. Bring the Jobs, companies and money held over seas, while easing legislation that holds companies back. The only way out of this mess is to Fire up this Country's Economic Engine.

A debt-to-GDP ratio of 60% is quite often noted as a prudential limit for developed countries.
Our debt-to-GDP ratio is 106.1%
Top 10 Countries with Largest National Debt-to-GDP in 2017
Japan… 220.82%
Greece… 179%
Portugal… 138.08%
Italy… 137.81%
Bhutan… 118.6%
Cyprus… 115.47%
Belgium… 114.78%
United States… 106.1%
Spain… 105.76%
Singapore… 104.7%