John F. Kennedy is the most popular president of the last half century, according to a new national poll A CNN/ORC International survey released Friday indicates that 90% of all Americans approve of how Kennedy handled his job as President. No other President of the last half century even comes […] Read more »
Partisans’ Historical Assessments of Obama, Bush Differ Most
In assessing the legacies of the last 11 U.S. presidents, Republicans and Democrats diverge most in how history will judge Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Republicans believe Obama will be judged worst among recent presidents, while Democrats predict Bush will. At the same time, Republicans expect Bush to […] Read more »
History Usually Kinder to Ex-Presidents
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 […] Read more »
Obama Averages 49% Approval in First Term
President Barack Obama averaged 49.1% job approval during his first term in office, among the lowest for post-World War II presidents. Only Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford had lower job approval averages. Obama’s first-term average is most similar to Bill Clinton’s. Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower were the […] Read more »
Romney’s Debate Win Doesn’t Make It 1980 Again
Mitt Romney’s winning performance in last week’s presidential debate has reinforced his campaign’s belief that this election parallels the one in 1980: In troubled times, Republicans inevitably defeat an unpopular Democratic president. While Romney gets to hit the reset button after President Barack Obama’s desultory display, he’d better not count […] Read more »
Exploding the Reagan 1980 Comeback Myth
After an Obama bounce prompted a wave of articles about Romney’s dwindling chances, Romney’s pollster Neil Newhouse published a memo detailing the case for a comeback. Perhaps the most striking element of the memo was the complete absence of polling data, but his strained reconceptualization of the 1980 race was […] Read more »