US Presidents Ranked by Their Approval Ratings When They Left Office

Final approval rating: 24%

While Richard Nixon won the 1972 election in a historic landslide, the end of his presidency was tainted by the Watergate scandal that led him to resign on August 9, 1974, when facing the threat of impeachment and removal.

Surveyed between August 2 and 5, 1974, after the House Judiciary Committee had passed articles of impeachment against the president, but before Nixon resigned, 66% of respondents to the Gallup poll said they disapproved of Nixon’s presidency — the highest disapproval rate of any president on the list.

Final approval rating: 32%

Assuming the presidency after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, Harry Truman served two terms that covered the aftermath of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, including the Korean War, which was widely unpopular and contributed to his low approval rating by the end of his second term in 1953.

When asked December 11 to 16, 1952, 56% of poll respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the presidency during his term.

Final approval rating: 34%

Jimmy Carter had high approval ratings — and a disapproval rating in the single digits — during the early days of his term, but his handling of international affairs, such as the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, along with a struggling economy, ultimately made him widely unpopular by the end of his term.

He lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan and faced a disapproval rating of 55% in polling conducted December 5 to 8, when he was readying to leave the White House.

Final approval rating: 34%

Despite uniting the nation in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush saw his public approval fade during his second term. His approval rating spiked after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, and the capture of Saddam Hussein.

After his reelection, his popularity began to decline as the Iraq War extended. His handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the onset of the 2008 financial crisis also contributed to his low approval ratings.

From January 9 to 11, 2009, as Bush prepared to hand over the presidency to Barack Obama, 61% of poll respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the presidency during his second term.

Final approval rating: 34%

Donald Trump’s first presidency was divisive from the start, as he entered the White House with an approval rating below 50%. He’s the first president in modern history to never exceed 50% approval on the Gallup polls during his entire presidency.

While his approval ratings dwindled over the course of his four years in office, his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular came under scrutiny ahead of his loss in the 2020 election.

His lowest approval rating in office came during his final Gallup poll, conducted January 4 to 15, 2021.

Most of that polling period took place immediately after the Capitol insurrection on January 6, and Trump faced a disapproval rating of 62%, the second-worst only after Richard Nixon’s at the time he left office.

Final approval rating: 40%

While Joe Biden saw approval ratings above 50% during his first six months in office, rising inflation, illegal immigration, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza contributed to a decline in his approval ratings.

His lowest-ranking Gallup poll, in which 36% of respondents said they approved of his handling of the role, came in July 2024, a month after his debate performance against Trump shifted focus toward his age and fitness for office.

As he left office, in polls collected January 2 to 16, 2025, Biden received a disapproval rating of 54%.

Final approval rating: 49%

After assuming the presidency because of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson won the 1964 election in a historic landslide, but he faced decreasing approval ratings over his handling of the Vietnam War.

Low approval ratings, along with a divided party, led Johnson to withdraw from the 1968 presidential race.

At the time of his withdrawal, only 36% of poll respondents said they approved of his handling of the presidency.

By the time he left the office, however, his approval rating had risen to 49%. In polling conducted January 1 to 6, 1969, 37% of respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the role, and 14% said they had no opinion, one of the higher percentages among the listed presidents.

Final approval rating: 53%

Assuming the presidency upon Nixon’s resignation, Gerald Ford served as US president from August 1974 until January 1977, after losing the election to Jimmy Carter.

During his presidency, Ford faced mixed reviews, with his approval dropping after he pardoned Nixon and introduced conditional amnesty for draft dodgers in September 1974.

Polled December 10 to 13, 1976, after he had lost the reelection to Jimmy Carter, 32% of respondents said they disapproved of Ford’s handling of the presidency, and 15% said they had no opinion on it, the highest percentage of the listed presidents.

Final approval rating: 56%

Though the elder Bush lost his reelection bid in the 1992 presidential election against Bill Clinton, the public opinion of him was generally positive by the end of his term.

In the weeks before his 1992 nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, however, George H. W. Bush had only a 29% approval rating, the lowest of his presidency. A recession and a reversal of his tax policy contributed to his drop in popularity.

In polling conducted January 8 to 11, 1993, 37% of respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the presidency, while 56% said they approved.

Final approval rating: 59%

Since the beginning of his presidency in 2009, Barack Obama had a high approval rating for a modern-day president; he averaged nearly 47% approval over eight years.

At his lowest point, in polling conducted September 8 to 11, 2011, 37% of poll respondents said they approved of his presidency, a decline most likely influenced by the president’s healthcare policies and his handling of the 2008 economic crisis and the subsequent rise in unemployment rates.

In polls conducted January 17 to 19, 2017, when Obama was leaving office, 37% of respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the role, with 59% saying they approved.

Final approval rating: 59%

After winning the 1952 election in a landslide, Dwight D. Eisenhower saw high approval ratings throughout his presidency, never dropping below the disapproval rating.

Holding office during the critical Cold War years, Eisenhower saw his approval remain positive through the end of his second term, with only 28% of respondents polled December 8 to 13, 1960, saying they disapproved of his handling of the presidency, the lowest among the presidents listed.

Final approval rating: 63%

Ronald Reagan’s strong leadership toward ending the Cold War and implementing his economic policies contributed to consistently positive ratings during his presidency and the subsequent election of his vice president, George H. W. Bush, as his successor to the presidency.

By the time he left office, 29% of respondents in a Gallup poll conducted December 27 to 29, 1988, said they disapproved of his handling of the presidency.

Final approval rating: 66%

After winning the 1992 elections against the incumbent George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton saw high approval ratings throughout his presidency, though he faced mixed opinions at times during his first term because of his domestic agenda, including tax policy and social issues.

Despite being impeached in 1998 by the House of Representatives over his testimony describing the nature of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton continued to see positive approval ratings throughout his second term.

By the time he left the White House, he had an approval rating of 66%, the highest of all the presidents on this list.

In the poll conducted January 10 to 14, 2001, only 29% of respondents said they disapproved of his handling of the presidency.