Presidential approval ratings, or the public’s perception of how the president is performing his job, have been closely watched as a measure of a president’s popularity, starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and continuing to Donald Trump today.
But in a Feb. 11 announcement, Gallup said it would no longer track presidential approval ratings, ending the high-profile service that began in 1938.
Gallup has announced that it will no longer publish approval ratings and favorability ratings for individual politicians starting this year. The company said in a statement to USA TODAY that the move “reflects an evolution in the way Gallup focuses on public research and thought leadership.”
George Gallup, a statistician and founder of the American Institute of Public Opinion, sent pollsters across the United States during the Great Depression to ask people: Do you support or disapprove of Roosevelt’s way of working as president?
Let’s take a look at the approval ratings for presidents since 1945, according to Gallup polls.
High and low approval ratings for presidential inauguration
Don’t see the graphic? Click here to view it.
Support numbers don’t just track a president’s popular vote. These numbers serve as a measure of the state of the country and are strongly influenced by national crises, economic conditions, and the often rigid divisions in American politics.
Gallup’s lowest approval rating for president
According to a Gallup poll from February 9 to 14, 1952, Harry Truman’s presidential approval rating was the lowest of any of the past 13 presidents, at 22%.
why? In the final days of his second term, President Truman was hit by a slowing economy, a protracted military conflict in South Korea, labor unrest and corruption in the federal government, according to Gallup.
Although President Trump’s approval rating is not the lowest, he is the first president to have an approval rating below 50% during his first administration and the first year of his second term.
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. gallup
