After a difficult first two years in the White House, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama each rebuilt enough public support to win a second term—not long after many observers had labeled them fatally damaged by their early setbacks.
Although the specific environment and challenges confronting those three presidents diverged in many ways, the trajectory of each man’s first term followed the same broad arc. Each was elected at a moment of great unease about the country’s direction, particularly in terms of the economy. Each saw his approval rating tumble over his first two years, as voters concluded that conditions were not improving as fast as they had expected, or at least hoped. For all three, that decline culminated in big losses during their first midterm election (especially for Clinton and Obama). But in the second half of each man’s first term, public attitudes about the country’s direction improved, lifting the president’s approval rating. Just two years after their midterm reversals, all three won reelection, Clinton and Obama by solid margins and Reagan by a historic 49-state landslide. CONTINUED
Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic
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