United States Presidential approval rating
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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 during his presidency. 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. Most often 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:
- "Which of the following best describes your opinion of the things President Barack Obama has done: strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or no opinion/undecided."
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 the general opinion of the people.
[edit] Former President George W. Bush
| Polling group's last poll for the President George W. Bush: | ||||
| Polling Group (Alphabetically) | Date | Approval | Disapproval | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABCNews/Washington Post[1] | 1/13-16/2009 | 33% | 66% | 2% |
| CBS News/New York Times[2] | 1/11-15/2009 | 22% | 73% | 5% |
| CNN/Opinion Research'[1] | 1/12-15/2009 | 31% | 68% | 1% |
| FOX News/Opinion Dynamics[1] | 1/13-14/2009 | 34% | 58% | 8% |
| NBC/Wall Street Journal[1] | 1/9-12/2009 | 27% | 67% | 6% |
| USA Today/Gallup[1] | 1/9-11/2009 | 34% | 61% | 5% |
| Pew[1] | 1/7-11/2009 | 24% | 66% | 10% |
- Polling group's graphs of approval rating for the President George W. Bush
 ABCNews Poll.[4] April 22, 2001 to June 1, 2007. |
 CBS News/New York Times. February 2001 to February 2008. |
[edit] Historical comparison
Historical Gallup Poll approval highs and lows for each President since 1937:[7]
| President | Highest Approval | Lowest Approval | Average Approval [8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obama | 69 1/22-24/09[9] | 57 6/17-21/09[10] | 63 |
| Bush (G.W.)[11] | 90 9/21-22/01 | 25 10/3-5/08 | 49.4 |
| Clinton | 73 12/19-20/98 | 34 5/26-27/93 | 55.1 |
| Bush (G.H.W.) | 89 2/28/-3/3/91 | 29 7/31-8/2/92 | 60.1 |
| Reagan | 68 5/16-19/86 | 35 1/28-31/83 | 52.8 |
| Carter | 75 3/18-21/77 | 28 6/29-7/2/79 | 45.5 |
| Ford | 74 8/16-19/74 | 37 3/28-31/75 | 47.2 |
| Nixon | 67 1/26-29/73l | 24 8/2-5/1974 | 49.1 |
| Johnson | 79 2/28-3/5/64 | 35 8/7-12/68 | 55.1 |
| Kennedy | 83 3/8-13/62 | 56 9/12-17/63 | 70.1 |
| Eisenhower | 79 12/14-19/56 | 48 3/27-4/1/58 | 65 |
| Truman | 87 6/1-5/45 | 22 2/9-14/52 | 45.4 |
| Roosevelt (FDR) | 84 1/8-13/42 | 48 8/18-24/39 | 66 |
[edit] Highest approval rating
George W. Bush holds the record with 90% (9/21-22/2001 -- after the September 11 attacks).
George H. W. Bush is second highest, with 89% (2/28/-3/3/1991 -- after the Persian Gulf War).
Harry S Truman is third highest, with 87% (6/1-5/1945 -- after V-E Day).
Franklin D. Roosevelt is fourth highest, with 84% (1/8-13/1942 -- after Pearl Harbor).
[edit] Lowest approval rating
Harry S Truman holds the record, at 22% (2/9-14/1952 -- during the Korean War).
Richard Nixon is second lowest, with 24% (7/12-15/1974, 8/2-5/1974 -- during Watergate).
George W. Bush is third lowest, at 25% (10/3-5/2008, 10/10-12/08, 10/31-11/2/08 -- during the Late 2000s recession).
Jimmy Carter is fourth lowest, with 28% (6/29-7/2/79 -- during the Iran hostage crisis and ensuing Operation Eagle Claw).
[edit] Lowest maximum approval rating during the president's time in office
Richard Nixon holds the record with 67% (1/26-29/1973).
Ronald Reagan is second lowest with 68% (5/8-11/1981).
Barack Obama is third lowest with 69% (1/22-24/09).
Bill Clinton is fourth lowest with 73% (12/19-20/1998).
[edit] Highest minimum approval rating during the president's time in office
Barack Obama holds the record with 57% (6/17-21 and 6/25-6/27/2009)
John F. Kennedy is second highest with 52% (9/12-17/1963)
Franklin D. Roosevelt is tied for third place with 48% (8/18-24/1939)
Dwight D. Eisenhower is tied for third place with 48% (3/27-4/1/1958)
Gerald Ford is fourth highest with 37% (3/28-31/1975)
[edit] Biggest approval rating difference during the president's time in office
George W. Bush is tied for the record with 65 percentage points.
Harry S Truman is tied for the record with 65 percentage points.
George H.W. Bush is second highest with 60 percentage points.
Jimmy Carter is third highest with 47 percentage points.
Lyndon B. Johnson is fourth highest with 43 percentage points.
[edit] Highest disapproval rating
George W. Bush holds the record with 71% (10/10-12/2008, 4% undecided).
Harry S Truman is second highest, with 69% (1/6-11/1952, 9% undecided).
Richard Nixon is third highest, with 66% (1/4-7/1974, 10% undecided).
George H.W. Bush is fourth highest, with 60% (7/31-8/2/92, 11% undecided).
[edit] Highest average approval rating
John F. Kennedy holds the record with 70.1%.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is the second highest with 66%.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is third highest, with 65%.
Barack Obama is fourth highest with 63.5%.
[edit] Lowest average approval rating
Harry S. Truman holds the record with 45.4% (12/11-16/1952).
Jimmy Carter is second lowest at 45.5% (12/5-8/1980).
Gerald Ford is third lowest with 47.2% (12/5-8/1976).
Richard Nixon is fourth lowest with 49% (8/1974).
[edit] Graphs
| Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for Presidents of the United States:[citation needed] | ||||||||||||
|
[edit] Related concepts
There are several polling concepts related to an approval rating. A disapproval rating measures the number of people who disapprove of a politician, and is essentially the opposite of an approval rating. A net approval rating is the difference between an individual's approval and disapproval numbers. This number is especially useful with individuals who lack name recognition. A candidate which registers 50% undecided, and has a 30% approval versus a 20% disapproval could be judged to have a favorable net approval rating, even though 30% approval looks bad on its own.
There are also favorability rating polls done during a president's tenure that gauge whether people have a favorable impression of the president or not.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "President Bush – Overall Job Rating in national polls". www.pollingreport.com. 2009-02-14. http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-14.
- ^ "Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent". 2009-01-16. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/printable4728399.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-02-22.
- ^ The Gallup poll
- ^ ABCNews
- ^ Newsweek
- ^ PollingReport
- ^ Only Gallup polls are reported, which are the only ones available for earlier presidents; the far larger number of polls, using different methods, for recent presidents will result in a wider spread and both higher and lower extremes
- ^ http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/Presidential-Approval-Ratings-Gallup-Historical-Statistics-Trends.aspx
- ^ http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx
- ^ http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx
- ^ http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/Presidential-Approval-Ratings-George-Bush.aspx Gallup
