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?"[1]
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 terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.[2]Harry S. Truman registered a 22% job approval rating (the lowest in Gallup's tracking) in a survey conducted February 9–14, 1952.[3]
Historical comparison
Historical Gallup Poll approval highs and lows for each president since 1937[4][5][6][a]
Historical average polling approval of each presidency since 1953. Polling figures are the unweighted mean of both polling averages reported by Real Clear Politics and FiveThirtyEight.[25][26][27] Figures listed for President Joe Biden are current as of January 7, 2025 and will be updated through completion of the first term of his presidency. President Trump's second term numbers will be added upon start of his presidency on January 20, 2025.
Order
President
Average initial approval
Average initial disapproval
Net initial approval
Average final approval
Average final disapproval
Net final approval
Initial to final change
46
Biden
57.5
37.5
+20
37.9
56.9
-19
-39
45
Trump (first presidency)
45
46
-1
41.1
56.1
-15
-14
44
Obama
68.5
12.5
+56
59
37
+22
-34
43
G. W. Bush
57
25
+32
34
61
-27
-59
42
Clinton
58
20
+38
66
29
+37
-1
41
G. H. W. Bush
51
6
+45
56
37
+19
-26
40
Reagan
51
13
+38
63
29
+32
-6
39
Carter
66
8
+58
34
55
-21
-79
38
Ford
71
3
+68
53
32
+32
-36
37
Nixon
59
5
+54
24
66
-42
-96
36
Johnson
78
2
+76
49
33
+16
-60
35
Kennedy
72
6
+66
58
28
+30
-36
34
Eisenhower
68
7
+61
59
28
+31
-30
33
Truman
87
3
+84
32
56
-24
-108
Graphs
Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for former presidents of the United States
