When Reagan left office in 1989, he held an approval rating of 68%, matching those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later Bill Clinton, as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era. His tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the United States, and he is an icon among conservatives. Evaluations of his presidency among historians and the general public place him among the upper tier of American presidents. During Jimmy Carter's last year in office (1980), inflation averaged 12.5 percent, compared with 4.4 percent during Reagan's last year in office (1988). Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent monthly rate in December 1982—higher than any time since the Great Depression—then dropped during the rest of Reagan's presidency. Sixteen million new jobs were created, while inflation significantly decreased. The Tax Reform Act of 1986, another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, simplified the tax code by reducing the number of tax brackets to four and slashing several tax breaks.
[{"approval_ratings": "68%", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "yes", "last_rating": "yes"}]
[{"approval_ratings": "68%", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "yes", "last_rating": "yes"}] [{"approval_ratings": " 68%", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "n/a", "last_rating_in_office": "n/a"}] [{"approval_ratings": "68", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "yes", "last_rating": "yes"}] [{"approval_ratings": "68%,", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "yes", "last_rating_in_office": "yes"}] [{"approval_ratings": "n/a", "year": "n/a", "above_50_percent": "n/a", "last_rating_in_office": "n/a"}] [{"approval_ratings": "68%", "year": "1989", "above_50_percent": "yes", "last_rating_in_office": "yes"}]