As the current president and former presidents gather in Dallas to open the George W. Bush presidential library, a Gallup review of presidential job approval ratings finds that presidents’ retrospective approval ratings are almost always more positive than their job approval ratings while in office. In particular, Americans rate John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan much more positively in retrospect than they did while the men were president. [cont.]
Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup