i left off the disclaimer at the bottom of the page which says they failed to contact glynch and no worries... http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr030117b.asp Update: Latest Bush Job Approval Rating at 61% Averages 71% approval for second year in office by Jeffrey M. Jones GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll, conducted Jan. 13-16, shows George W. Bush's job approval rating at 61%. Thirty-four percent of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing. The approval percentage is slightly higher than that found in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Jan. 10-12. That brings Bush's final averages for the most recent quarter to 63.5% and for his second year in office to 71.4%. The quarterly average places in the top 30% of presidential quarters dating back to 1945, and the yearly average is the eighth highest since 1945. Following are the updated tables reflecting the inclusion of the new reading: Top 15 Yearly Average Presidential Approval Ratings, 1945-2002 Top 15 Years Dates Year in Presidency Average Cases 1 Truman Apr 12, 1945- Jan 19, 1946 1 77.3% 3 2 Kennedy Jan 20, 1961- Jan 19, 1962 1 76.4% 15 3 Johnson Nov 22, 1963- Jan 19, 1964 1 76.3% 3 4 Johnson Jan 20, 1964- Jan 19, 1965 2 73.4% 14 5 Eisenhower Jan 20, 1955- Jan 19, 1956 3 72.1% 15 6 Kennedy Jan 20, 1962- Jan 19, 1963 2 72.1% 13 7 Eisenhower Jan 20, 1956- Jan 19, 1957 4 71.9% 13 8 George W. Bush Jan 20, 2002- Jan 19, 2003 2 71.4% 46 9 George Bush Jan 20, 1991- Jan 19, 1992 3 69.5% 40 10 Eisenhower Jan 20, 1953- Jan 19, 1954 1 68.8% 14 11 George W. Bush Jan 20, 2001- Jan 19, 2002 1 67.1% 33 12 George Bush Jan 20, 1990- Jan 19, 1991 2 66.8% 32 13 George Bush Jan 20, 1989- Jan 19, 1990 1 65.9% 13 14 Eisenhower Jan 20, 1954- Jan 19, 1955 2 65.5% 16 15 Johnson Jan 20, 1965- Jan 19, 1966 3 65.4% 18
Not surprisingly, with the exception of Kennedy, every president on that top list presided during a time of war or conflict. It is nearly impossible to have a low approval rating when the country is at war.
That's sort of the thing. Reagan isn't on this list because his overall approval ratings were never all that high, but Reagan's were also never very soft. Quite obviously, Presidents on this list like LBJ and Classic George Bush had periods of high ratings that were soft and didn't survive to bring a second term (though LBJ didn't run a second time. I guess he could've pulled out a victory had he run, but clearly he was much weaker by 1968 than he had been.... and that happened at least partially because of the war).
It's good to cut through the loud liberal voices present on this board to see how the American public really feels. A casual reader of this bbs could mistakenly get a picture that Bush is not one of the most popular US presidents of all time, which in fact he is.
Lets not forget that many Americans watch reality TV, read tabloids and at one time or another owned a New Kids on the Block CD. That, coupled with Junior's inflated approval ratings, should tell you all you need to know about the IQ of the average American citizen!
Lets also not forget that that number has done NOTHING but decline by 30 percent since just after 09-11. What other american President besides Bush and Roosevelt had such a launching pad to help boost their (ahem) popularity?
I always thought Reagan did an amazing job with the missle treaties and peace with Russia (he finished off Communism). He doesn't get enough credit.
Some people are bashing Bush for going into war with Iraq. This is totally uncalled for. I am in huge support of what Bush is doing for this country. He is instilling a no nonsense hard baller who is willing to risk war to fight for this country's freedom. The September 11 attacks have to be retalliated against in some way or another and I think that war is the correct answer plain and simple, therefore, I am very satisfied with Bush and am not surprised that his approval ratings are high.
Um, anyway, so that reminds me: I was reading today that 61% of the American public responded NO to the question "Do you like people who are smarter than you?" Amazing statistical coincidence!
