In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s (probably 1937) to gauge public support for the President of the United States during his term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Typically, an approval rating is given to a political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:
Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that skew popular opinion. However, the approval rating is generally accepted as a statistically valid indicator of the comparative changes in the popular US mood regarding a President.
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Polling group's most recent poll for President Barack Obama:
Polling Group (Reverse Chronologically) | Date | Approval | Disapproval | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rasmussen Reports[2] | December 31, 2011 | 46% | 52% | 1% |
Gallup[3] | December 21-23, 2011 | 47% | 45% | 7% |
American Research Group[4] | December 17-20, 2011 | 46% | 51% | 3% |
CNN/Opinion Research[5] | December 16-18, 2011 | 49% | 48% | 3% |
ABC News/Washington Post[6] | December 15-18, 2011 | 49% | 47% | 4% |
Fox News Channel[7] | December 14-15, 2011 | 41% | 50% | 9% |
McClatchy/Marist[8] | September, 2011 | 39% | 52% | 1% |
USA Today/Gallup[9][8] | September 15-18, 2011 | 42% | 53% | 5% |
NBC News/Wall Street Journal[10] | July 14-17, 2011 | 47% | 48% | 5% |
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June 20-21, 2011 | 48% | 46% | 6% |
Associated Press – GfK[11] | June 16–20, 2011 | 52% | 47% | 1% |
CBS News[12] | June 3-7, 2011 | 48% | 43% | 9% |
Quinnipiac University[13] | May 31-June 6, 2011 | 47% | 46% | 7% |
GWU/Politico[14] | May 8–12, 2011 | 52% | 45% | 4% |
Newsweek/Daily Beast[15] | May 2–3, 2011 | 48% | 49% | 3% |
Obama joins the two most recent fellow Democrats (Clinton and Carter) and two recent Republicans (Reagan and Ford) in falling below 50% approval within the first year in office. His predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, enjoyed high approval ratings throughout his first years before they declined sharply in his second term. Historical Gallup Poll approval highs and lows for each President since 1937:[16][nb 1]
Order | President | Highest Approval | Lowest Approval | High-Low | Highest Disapproval | Approval Average[16] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
44[9] | Obama | 69 (1/22/09) | 38 (8/22/11, 8/27/11, 8/29/11, 10/6/11, 10/13/11, 10/17/11) | 31 | 55 (8/27/11, 8/29/11) | 49[17] |
43[18] | Bush (G.W.) | 90 (9/21/01) | 25 (10/3/08, 10/10/08, 10/31/08) | 65 | 71 (10/10/08) | 49.4 |
42[19] | Clinton | 73 (12/19/98) | 37 (5/26/93) | 36 | 54 (9/6/94) | 55.1 |
41[20] | Bush (G.H.W.) | 89 (2/28/91) | 29 (7/31/92) | 60 | 60 (7/31/92) | 60.9 |
40[21] | Reagan | 68 (5/16/86) | 35 (1/28/83) | 33 | 56 (1/28/83) | 52.8 |
39[22] | Carter | 75 (3/18/77) | 28 (6/29/79) | 47 | 59 (6/29/79) | 45.5 |
38[23] | Ford | 71 (8/16/74) | 37 (3/28/75) | 34 | 46 (4/18/75, 11/21/75) | 47.2 |
37[24] | Nixon | 67 (1/26/73) | 24 (8/2/74) | 43 | 66 (8/2/74) | 49.1 |
36[25] | Johnson | 79 (2/28/64) | 35 (8/7/68) | 44 | 52 (8/7/68, 3/10/68) | 55.1 |
35[26] | Kennedy | 83 (3/8/62) | 56 (9/12/63) | 27 | 30 (9/12/63, 11/8/63) | 70.1 |
34[27] | Eisenhower | 79 (12/14/56) | 48 (3/27/58) | 31 | 36 (3/27/58) | 65.0 |
33[28] | Truman | 87 (6/1/45) | 22 (2/9/52) | 65 | 67 (1/6/52) | 45.4 |
32[29] | Roosevelt (F.D.) | 84 (1/8/42) | 48 (8/18/39) | 36 | 46 (5/22/38, 5/29/38, 11/7/38) |
Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for Presidents of the United States: |