Barack Obama less popular than others at start of second term
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President Barack Obama is all smiles today on inauguration day.
But a chart that appears in Ned Silver's New York Times blog suggests all may not be well.
He looked at the popularity of all presidents in the first year of their second term since the Second World War.
Obama's approval rating of 52 percent is only one point higher than the worst on the list: George W. Bush (51 percent).
Dwight Eisenhower had the highest rating at 74 percent, followed by Lyndon Johnson at 70 percent and Harry Truman at 69 percent.
Next, in order, were Ronald Reagan (63 percent), Bill Clinton (60 percent), and Richard Nixon (59 percent).
Comments
2 Comments
DavidH
Jan 21, 2013 at 10:34am
A quote from the blog:
"Speaking of which, do a president’s approval ratings at the start of his second term tell us very much about how popular he is likely to be throughout it? Not very much."
That tells us something about quoting (or not quoting) blogs.
(It should also be pointed out that the blog was a blog about a blogger's blog. God bless the interwebs.)
Jymn
Jan 21, 2013 at 10:40am
This is not a surprise. Obama's approval rating will not raise much higher, even if the economy and jobs outlook improves. I can't think of a president in history with so much of a blanket 'no' opposition.
Obama is a transformational president. He opened the door rather than walked through it. That will be up to the next president, who will most certainly be white, most likely male and a Democrat.