In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s (probably 1937) to gauge public support for the president during his presidency. An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Most often an approval rating is given to a political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:
"Which of the following best describes your opinion of the things President George W. Bush has done: strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or no opinion/undecided."
Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that skew popular opinion. However, the approval rating is generally accepted as the general opinion of the people.
President Bush's approval rating from February/3/2001 to March/16/2008. Gallup Poll[9]
Polling group's graphs of approval rating for the President George W. Bush
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Image:ABCNews Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png|ABCNews Poll[17]. April/22/2001 to June/1/2007.
Image:Newsweek Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png| Newsweek Poll[12][18]. February/9/2001 to July/12/2007.
Image:George W. Bush public opinion polling.png|CBS News/New York Times. February 2001 to February 2008.
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Historical comparison
Historical approval highs and lows for each President since 1937:
Highest minimum approval rating during the president term in office
John F. Kennedy holds the record at 56% (9/12-17/1963, 14% undecided). Dwight D. Eisenhower is second-equal highest at 48% (3/27-4/1/1958, 16% undecided). Franklin D. Roosevelt is second-equal highest at 48% (8/18-24/1939, 8% undecided). Gerald Ford is fourth highest at 37% (3/28-31/1975, 20% undecided).
Biggest approval rating difference during the president term in office
George W. Bush holds the record with 73 percentage points. Harry S Truman is second highest with 65 percentage points. George H.W. Bush is third highest with 60 percentage points. Jimmy Carter is fourth highest with 47 percentage points.
Highest disapproval rating
George W. Bush holds the record with 76% (9/16-19/2008, 5% undecided, ARG [20] and 11/6-9/2008, 1% undecided, CNN [6]). Harry S Truman is second highest, with 67% (1/6-11/1952, 9% undecided, Gallup Poll). Richard Nixon is third highest, with 66% (1/4-7/1974, 10% undecided, Gallup Poll). George H.W. Bush is fourth highest, with 60% (7/31-8/2/92, 11% undecided, Gallup Poll).
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Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Franklin D Roosevelt.png|President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Harry S Truman.png|President Harry S. Truman.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Dwight D Eisenhower.png|President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-John F Kennedy.png|President John F. Kennedy.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Lyndon B Johnson.png|President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Richard Nixon.png|President Richard Nixon.
Image:Galup Poll-Approval Rating-Gerald Ford.png|President Gerald Ford.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Jimmy Carter.png|President Jimmy Carter.
Image:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Ronald Reagan.png|President Ronald Reagan.
Image:Gallup_Poll-Approval_Rating-George_H_W_Bush.png|President George H. W. Bush.
Image:Galup_Poll-Approval_Rating-Bill_Clinton.png|President Bill Clinton.
Image:?Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-George W Bush.png|President George W. Bush.
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Related concepts
There are several polling concepts related to an approval rating. A disapproval rating measures the number of people who disapprove of a politician, and is essentially the opposite of an approval rating. A net approval rating is the difference between an individual's approval and disapproval numbers. This number is especially useful with individuals who lack name recognition. A candidate which registers 50% undecided, and has a 30% approval versus a 20% disapproval could be judged to have a favorable net approval rating, even though 30% approval looks bad on its own.
There are also favorability rating polls done during a president's tenure that gauge whether people have a favorable impression of the president or not.
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