# 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 U.S. 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. Harry S. Truman registered a 22% job approval rating (the lowest in Gallup's tracking) in a survey conducted February 9–14, 1952.

## 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) | 36 (2024-07-21) | 21 | 59 (2022-07-26, 2023-04-25, 2023-10-23, 2023-11-21, 2023-12-20, 2024-02-20) | 37 (2021-02-02) | 20 (2021-02-02) | −22 (2023-04-25, 2023-10-23, 2023-11-21, 2024-07-21) | 40 (2025-01-15) | 42 | TBD |
| 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 (2017-01-22, 2020-03-22) | 4 (2020-03-22) | −28 (2021-01-15) | 34 (2021-01-15) | 41 | 40 |
| 44 | Barack Obama | 69 (2009-01-24) | 38 (2014-09-05) | 31 | 57 (2014-10-10) | 12 (2009-01-23) | 56 (2009-01-23, 2009-01-24) | −18 (2014-10-10) | 59 (2017-01-19) | 48 | 48.4 |
| 43 | George W. Bush | 90 (2001-09-22) | 25 (2008-10-05, 2008-10-12, 2008-11-02) | 65 | 71 (2008-10-10) | 6 (2001-09-22) | 84 (2001-09-22) | −46 (2008-10-12) | 34 (2009-01-11) | 49 | 33.7 |
| 42 | Bill Clinton | 73 (1998-12-20) | 37 (1993-06-06) | 36 | 54 (1994-09-07) | 20 (1993-01-26) | 48 (1998-12-20) | −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 (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) | 37 (1975-03-31) | 34 | 48 (1975-03-31) | 3 (1974-08-19) | 67 (1974-08-13) | −11 (1975-03-31) | 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 | 53 (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 (1963-11-13) | 5 (1961-04-11) | 77 (1961-05-03) | 27 (1963-09-17) | 58 (1963-11-13) | 70 | 13.7 |
| 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 79 (1956-12-19) | 48 (1958-04-01) | 31 | 36 (1958-04-01) | 7 (1953-02-05) | 66 (1953-04-02, 1956-12-19) | 12 (1958-04-01) | 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 |

### Historical net approval of each presidency

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. 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 polling numbers will be added upon start of his presidency on January 20, 2025. Effective March 17, 2025, President Trump's second term polling numbers will reflect only the unweighted mean of polling averages reported by Real Clear Politics given the closure of FiveThirtyEight due to employee cuts at ABC News Group by parent company Disney. :
| Order | President | Average initial approval | Average initial disapproval | Net initial approval | Average final approval | Average final disapproval | Net final approval | Initial to final change |
| 47 | Trump (second term) | 47 | 41 | +6 | — | — | — | — |
| 46 | Biden | 57.5 | 37.5 | +20 | 37.9 | 56.9 | -19 | -39 |
| 45 | Trump (first term) | 45 | 45 | 0 | 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
* Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Harry S. Truman
* Dwight D. Eisenhower
* John F. Kennedy
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Richard Nixon
* Gerald Ford
* Jimmy Carter
* Ronald Reagan
* George H. W. Bush
* Bill Clinton
* George W. Bush
* Barack Obama
* Donald Trump (first presidency)
* Joe Biden