April 9, 2009 10:27 AM

Behind The Numbers: Obama's Approval Rating

By
Sarah Dutton
Topics
White House
(CBS)
The latest CBS News/New York Times poll showed President Obama receiving a 66 percent approval rating from the public, his highest since taking office in January. How does that compare to other presidents' approval ratings?

It is certainly higher than the approval ratings of recent Presidents George W. Bush (53 percent) and Bill Clinton (55 percent) at this point in their presidencies, but it is by no means the highest that polls have recorded. Presidents Reagan, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower and Truman all received higher marks than President Obama at comparably early points in their presidencies.

EARLY JOB APPROVAL RATINGS

Barack Obama (4/2009) ..........66%
George W. Bush (4/2001) .......53%
Bill Clinton (3/1993) ..................55%
George H. W. Bush (4/1989) ...61%
Ronald Reagan (4/1981) .........67%
Jimmy Carter (4/1977) ..............64%
Gerald Ford* (11/1974) .............47%
Richard Nixon* (4/1969) ...........61%
Lyndon Johnson* (1/1964) .......76%
John Kennedy* (4/1961) ...........78%
Dwight Eisenhower* (4/1953) ..73%
Harry Truman* (10/1945) ..........82%

(* Gallup data)

Not all Americans are fans of the new president. Just 31 percent of Republicans now approve of the job President Obama is doing, and a CBS News poll conducted just after the president took office found only 36 percent of Republicans approving. President Obama's high approval rating is the result of widespread approval among Democrats and strong approval from independents.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Such a partisan divide is not unusual at this point in a presidency. In an April 2001 CBS News Poll, just 27 percent of Democrats approved of the job George W. Bush was doing. Eight-nine percent of Republicans approved, and President Bush's overall approval rating was 53 percent. Partisanship was also evident in President Clinton's approval rating; in a CBS News/New York Times Poll conducted in March 1993, just 38 percent of Republicans approved of the job President Clinton was doing, but 70 percent of Democrats approved. One difference for the current president -- he receives higher approval ratings from independents than either Mr. Bush or Mr. Clinton did.

President Obama's 66 percent approval rating comes at a time when the country is feeling the effects of the worst economic crisis and unemployment level in decades; but at least so far, Americans don't seem to be blaming the new president for those troubles.

The poll addressed the question of blame directly, asking respondents to select from a list who they thought was to blame for the current state of the nation's economy. 33 percent said the Bush Administration was responsible, and another 21 percent blamed Wall Street and financial institutions. Just 2 percent chose the Obama Administration.

(CBS)


WHO IS TO BLAME FOR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS?

Bush Administration .....33%
Wall Street .............21%
Congress ............... 11%
Obama Administration ....2%

Not surprisingly, there are partisan differences in the blame game -- 53 percent of Democrats hold the Bush Administration accountable for the economic situation, while just 14% of Republicans do. But more surprisingly, just 2 percent of Republicans blame the new Administration. Instead, Republicans blame Wall Street (27 percent) and Congress (22 percent).

Blaming a previous administration for economic problems is not new. In November 1982, a CBS News/New York Times exit poll asked who was more to blame for economic problems in the U.S. Thirty-eight percent of voters chose Ronald Reagan and the Republicans, and 48 percent chose "previous Democratic policies." In April 1991, just 26 percent of Americans who thought the country was in recession placed a lot of the blame on the policies of the (G.H.W.) Bush Administration, while 61 percent placed a lot of the blame on the policies of the Reagan Administration.

Add a Comment See all 102 Comments
by tocnwth April 18, 2009 10:23 PM EDT
It is Bush's fault. He came into office with a surplus and then proceded to give the richest of Americans the biggest tax cut in history and then invaded Iraq which had nothing to do with the world trade center tragedy and still would not raise taxes to offset the massive debts he was creating.

He knew nothing about history or simple arithmetic and by borrowing 1.9 billion dollars for every day he was in office and nothing to pay it off with.

He would not even put the cost of the fiasco with Iraq and the war in Afghanistan in the budget, he financed them by supplemental appropiations.

He will go down as the worst president in history, if he does not it will be because of the family influence on the historians.
Reply to this comment
by nprybes April 16, 2009 12:58 PM EDT
There is nothing "liberal" about using the tax system to force people who have earned their income, to give it to some street-corner punk who wants to spend it without earning it.

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Yeah. That's exactly what's happening, stupid.

By the way, if you're in the middle class, your tax rate is the lowest it's been in nearly 30 years. It's also one of the lowest in the developing world.

Stop whining, you little bi$ch
Reply to this comment
by nprybes April 16, 2009 12:53 PM EDT
YES Bush gets some blame for signing it into law but it was a Dem controled house and senate that passed the bill and were on TV every night calling the GOP obstructionist because they wouldn't vote for it, But

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Ummm...a large majority of REPUBLICANS also voted for the TARP program. Sorry, but this little thing called "facts" kind of disagrees with you here.
Reply to this comment
by nprybes April 16, 2009 12:52 PM EDT
President Obama seems to be very good at campaigning, but where's the positive result that he has promised us ?

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Our collective need for instant gratification is what got us into this mess...please break out of your conditioning and realize that not everything can happen overnight.

The guy's only been in office for 3 months, and he's facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, our country is full of millions of short-sighted morons just like you who can't remember things that happened a week ago or realize that sometimes it takes a lot of hard work and determination to fix something that's completely screwed up. Grow up.
Reply to this comment
by bumpedoff1 April 10, 2009 5:32 AM EDT
By the end of the year this will change
Reply to this comment
by speakinup April 9, 2009 8:07 PM EDT
"It was Bush's illegal wars for Israel that created this economic mess, the central banker Bush family that gave the Jews on wall street the go to pillage the poor with a fake mortgage crisis and the dems went right along with it all. Posted by dumpdc


This has to be the all time stupid post. Now, I don't like our representation either - but it wasn't the war - it was the mortgage industry melt down.

Otherwise, our country would be the only one in trouble.
Reply to this comment
by speakinup April 9, 2009 8:03 PM EDT
Being "popular" does not mean you are doing the correct thing.

President Obama seems to be very good at campaigning, but where's the positive result that he has promised us ?

Where are the jobs ?

Why is he mortgaging our children's futures ?
Reply to this comment
by kansas1946 April 9, 2009 7:06 PM EDT
Not all Americans are fans of the new president. Just 31 percent of Republicans now approve of the job President Obama is doing,>
*******************************

I am astounded. I can't believe there are 36pct of Republicans that are not hateful, partisan, dweebs, but I guess with a third of their members being fair, that there is hope for the Republican party yet.
Reply to this comment
by ObamaYoMama April 9, 2009 6:57 PM EDT
Where is all of this talk about whining coming from? I haven't seen it but everytime I see one of these comment area all I see if people talking about how Obama is whining... Where and when has this happened??
Reply to this comment
by honestindividual April 9, 2009 6:55 PM EDT
There is nothing "liberal" about using the tax system to force people who have earned their income, to give it to some street-corner punk who wants to spend it without earning it. The term "liberal" has been widely misused by LEFTISTS who want someone to think they are "nice" people. Even they have noticed that the term "liberal" is starting to get a smell to it, and a lot of them now like to call temselves "progressives".
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