United States presidential approval rating

In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were first conducted by George Gallup (estimated to be 1937) to gauge public support for the president of the United States during their term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by 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 politician 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 question might ask: "Do you approve or disapprove of the way that the current president is handling their job as president?"

Like most surveys that measure opinions, individual poll results may be inaccurate. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that show inaccurate statistics. Examples that self select, such as online questions are of this type; however, the aggregate approval rating is generally accepted by statisticians as a statistically valid indicator of the comparative changes in the popular United States mood regarding a president.

George W. Bush registered a 90% job approval rating (the highest in Gallup's tracking) shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Harry Truman registered a 22% job approval rating (the lowest in Gallup's tracking) in a Feb. 9-14, 1952, Gallup poll.

President Joe Biden's approval ratings

Aggregate polls
Source of poll aggregation Polls included Dates administered Dates updated Approval Disapproval Unsure/no opinion Net
FiveThirtyEight All polls until January 10, 2023 January 11, 2023 43.0% 52.0% 5.0% -9.0%
RealClearPolitics All polls until January 10, 2023 January 11, 2023 44.6% 50.6% 4.2% -6.0%

 majority approve  plurality approve  plurality disapprove  majority disapprove

Most recent polls for Joseph R. Biden as of June 3, 2023
Polling group Date Sample size Margin of error Approval Disapproval Unsure/no opinion Net
ABC News\Washington Post April 28–May 3, 2023 1,006 (A) ±0.5% 36% 56% 8% −20
NORC March 16–20, 2023 1,081 (A) ±2.739% 38% 61% 1% −23
Léger February 4–6, 2022 1,005 (A) ±3.09% 42% 55% 3% −13
Rasmussen Reports/Pulse Opinion Research (R) February 9, 2022 1,500 (RV) ±3.0% 40% 58% 2% –18
Morning Consult February 3–9, 2022 45,000 (A) ±2.03% 41% 51% 8% −9
Ipsos February 7–8, 2022 1,005 (A) ±3.8% 43% 51% 6% -8
YouGov (for The Economist) February 19–22, 2022 1,500 (A) ±2.9% 41% 49% 10% -11
Suffolk University (for USA Today) December 27–30, 2021 1,000 (RV) ±3.1% 40% 54% 2% −14
RMG Research (for Scott Rasmussen) (R) January 18–19, 2022 1,200 (RV) ±2.8% 42% 52% 7% -10
HarrisX (for The Hill) February 23–24, 2021 1,815 (RV) 38% 54% 8% -15

Historical Comparison

Historical Gallup Poll approval highs and lows for each president since 1937
Order President Highest approval Lowest approval High –
Low
Highest disapproval Lowest disapproval Highest margin Lowest margin Final poll Approval
average
Polls
per year
46 Joe Biden 57 (2021-02-02, 2021-04-21) 37 (2023-04-25, 2023-10-23) 20 59 (2022-07-26, 2023-04-25, 2023-10-23) 37 (2021-02-02) 20 (2021-02-02) −22 (2023-04-25, 2023-10-23) N/A N/A N/A
45 Donald Trump 49 (2020-01-29, 2020-02-16, 2020-03-22, 2020-04-28, 2020-05-13) 34 (2021-01-15) 15 62 (2021-01-15) 45 (2020-03-22) 4 (2020-03-22) −28 (2021-01-15) 34 (2021-01-15) 41 40
44 Barack Obama 68 (2009-01-23) 38 (2011-08-29, 2011-10-06) 30 55 (2014-06-22, 2014-10-12) 13 (2009-01-25) 56 (2009-01-23, 2009-01-24) −16 (2014-10-10) 59 (2017-01-19) 48 48.4
43 George W. Bush 90 (2001-09-21) 25 (2008-10-05, 2008-10-12, 2008-11-02) 65 71 (2008-10-10) 6 (2001-09-22) 83 (2001-09-22) −46 (2008-10-12) 34 (2009-01-11) 49 33.7
42 Bill Clinton 73 (1998-12-19) 37 (1993-06-06) 36 54 (1994-09-07) 20 (1993-01-26) 48 (2000-12-19) −14 (1994-09-07) 66 (2001-01-14) 55 28.5
41 George H. W. Bush 89 (1991-02-28) 29 (1992-08-02) 60 60 (1992-07-31) 6 (1989-01-26) 82 (1991-03-03) −30 (1992-08-02, 1992-10-13) 56 (1993-01-11) 61 39.5
40 Ronald Reagan 68 (1981-05-11, 1981-05-28, 1986-05-19) 35 (1983-01-31) 33 56 (1983-01-31) 13 (1981-02-02) 49 (1981-04-06) −21(1983-01-31) 63 (1988-12-29) 53 37.0
39 Jimmy Carter 75 (1977-03-21) 28 (1979-07-02) 47 59 (1979-07-02) 8 (1977-02-07, 1977-03-02) 66 (1977-03-15) −31 (1979-07-02) 34 (1980-12-08) 46 22.7
38 Gerald Ford 71 (1974-08-19) 38 (1975-03-10) 33 46 (1975-04-15, 1975-11-18) 3 (1974-08-19) 67 (1974-08-13) −7 (1975-02-25, 1975-03-25, 1975-04-15) 53 (1976-12-13) 47 14.7
37 Richard Nixon 67 (1969-11-17, 1973-01-29) 24 (1974-07-15, 1974-07-26, 1974-08-05) 43 66 (1974-08-05) 5 (1969-01-28) 57 (1969-03-17) −42 (1974-08-05) 24 (1974-08-05) 49 17.7
36 Lyndon B. Johnson 79 (1964-03-05) 35 (1968-08-12) 44 52 (1968-08-12) 2 (1963-12-10) 75 (1963-12-10) −18 (1968-08-12) 49 (1969-01-06) 55 15.3
35 John F. Kennedy 82 (1961-05-03, 1961-06-06) 56 (1963-09-17) 26 30 (1963-11-08) 5 (1961-04-11) 77 (1961-05-03) 29 (1963-10-16) 58 (1963-11-13) 70 13.7
34 Dwight Eisenhower 79 (1956-12-19) 48 (1958-04-01) 30 36 (1958-03-25) 7 (1953-02-05) 66 (1953-04-02, 1956-12-19) 12 (1958-03-25) 59 (1960-12-13) 65 14.4
33 Harry Truman 87 (1945-06-05) 22 (1951-11-16, 1952-02-14) 65 67 (1952-01-06) 3 (1945-06-05) 85 (1945-08-22) −43 (1952-01-04) 32 (1952-12-16) 45 8.4
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt 83 (1942-01-23) 48 (1939-08-18) 35 46 (1938-05-22, 1938-05-29, 1938-11-07) 73 (1942-01-23) 65 (1943-12-15) 63 8

Approval at the beginning of the presidency

Historical Gallup Poll approval at the beginning of each presidency since 1953
Order President Initial Approval Initial Disapproval
46 Biden 57 (2021-02-02) 37 (2021-02-02)
45 Trump 45 (2017-01-29) 47 (2017-01-29)
44 Obama 68 (2009-01-23) 12 (2009-01-23)
43 G. W. Bush 57 (2001-02-05) 25 (2001-02-05)
42 Clinton 58 (1993-01-24) 20 (1993-01-24)
41 G. H. W. Bush 51 (1989-01-26) 6 (1989-01-26)
40 Reagan 51 (1981-02-02) 13 (1981-02-02)
39 Carter 66 (1977-01-07) 8 (1977-01-07)
38 Ford 71 (1974-08-19) 3 (1974-08-19)
37 Nixon 59 (1969-01-28) 5 (1969-01-28)
36 Johnson 78 (1963-12-10) 2 (1963-12-10)
35 Kennedy 72 (1961-02-15) 6 (1961-02-15)
34 Eisenhower 68 (1953-02-05) 7 (1953-02-05)
33 Truman 87 (1945-06-05) 3 (1945-06-05)

Graphs

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-10-31 19:35 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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