United States presidential approval rating

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:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President?"[1]

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.

President Barack Obama

Most recent polls for President Barack Obama:

Polling Group Date Approval Disapproval Sample Size +/-
Washington Post/ABC[2] March 26-29, 2015 46% 49% 1,003 3.5%
CBS[3] February 13-17, 2015 44% 46% 1,006 3%
CNN/ORC[4] February 12-15, 2015 47% 51% 1,027 3%

Historical comparison

President Obama has averaged an approval rating of 47% through his first six years in office, which has dropped his average approval more than 2% points below Richard Nixon (49.1%) and George W. Bush (49.4%). Historical Gallup Poll approval highs and lows for each President since 1937:[5][nb 1]

Order President Highest Approval Lowest Approval High-Low Highest Disapproval Approval Average[5]
44[6] Obama 69 (January 22, 2009) 38 (August 20-29, 2011, October 4-17, 2011, September 1-3, 2014)[7] 31 57 (October 8-10, 2014)[8] 47.0[9]
43[10] Bush (G.W.) 90 (September 21, 2001) 25 (October 31, 2008) 65 71 (October 31, 2008) 49.4
42[11] Clinton 73 (December 19, 1998) 37 (May 26, 1993) 36 54 (September 6, 1994) 55.1
41[12] Bush (G.H.W.) 89 (February 28, 1991) 29 (July 31, 1992) 60 60 (July 31, 1992) 60.9
40[13] Reagan 68 (May 16, 1986) 35 (January 28, 1983) 33 56 (January 28, 1983) 52.8
39[14] Carter 75 (March 18, 1977) 28 (June 29, 1979) 47 59 (June 29, 1979) 45.5
38[15] Ford 71 (August 16, 1974) 37 (March 28, 1975) 34 46 (April 18, 1975/November 21, 1975) 47.2
37[16] Nixon 67 (January 26, 1973) 24 (August 2, 1974) 43 66 (August 2, 1974) 49.1
36[17] Johnson 79 (February 28, 1964) 35 (August 7, 1968) 44 52 (August 7, 1968/March 10, 1968) 55.1
35[18] Kennedy 83 (March 8, 1962) 56 (September 12, 1963) 27 30 (September 12, 1963/November 8, 1963) 70.1
34[19] Eisenhower 79 (December 14, 1956) 48 (March 27, 1958) 31 36 (March 27, 1958) 65.0
33[20] Truman 87 (June 1, 1945) 22 (February 9, 1952) 65 67 (January 6, 1952) 45.4
32[21] Roosevelt 84 (January 8, 1942) 48 (August 18, 1939) 36 46 (May 22/29 1938/November 07, 1938) 63

Graphs

Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for Presidents of the United States:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Only the results of Gallup polls are included, as no other poll results exist for earlier presidents.

References

  1. ↑ "Presidential Approval Ratings – Barack Obama". gallup.com. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?". Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Growing Concerns about ISIS; Optimism about the Economy". Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ "CNN/ORC". Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Presidential Approval Ratings – Gallup Historical Statistics and Trends". Gallup.com. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ Graphical display and numbers of Gallup "daily tracking" polls
  7. ↑ http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx
  8. ↑ http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx
  9. ↑ http://www.gallup.com/poll/116479/barack-obama-presidential-job-approval.aspx
  10. ↑ "Gallup.com". Gallup.com. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  11. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Clinton at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
  12. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Bush (G.H.W.) at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  13. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Reagan at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  14. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Carter at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  15. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Ford at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  16. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Nixon at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  17. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Johnson at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  18. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Kennedy at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  19. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Eisenhower at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  20. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Truman at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  21. ↑ Job Performance Ratings for President Roosevelt at Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

External links