Bush Averages 68% Approval This Quarter

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Oct. 19 marks the end of another quarter -- the seventh -- in George W. Bush's presidency. For the quarter, Bush has averaged a 68% job approval rating. This average is high by historical standards, but is significantly lower than his three prior quarters, which rank among the highest ever. President Bush remains on pace for a yearly average above 70%, something accomplished only seven times in the last 56 years. The average for Bush's entire term as president so far is rivaled only by John Kennedy's 70% average from 1961-1963.

The most recent approval rating for Bush, taken from an Oct. 3-6 CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, stands at 67%. Twenty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing as president.

For the quarter that began on July 20 and ends on Oct. 19, Bush has averaged a 68% approval rating. This is down from the three prior quarters, which ranked as the second, fifth and 14^th highest quarterly averages ever. The current quarter places in the top 19% of quarters dating back to 1945, placing 42^nd out of 227.

Bush's quarterly average has declined about 6 points in each of the last three quarters.

George W. Bush's Quarterly Job Approval Ratings % "Approve"

Compared to other presidents' seventh-quarter averages, Bush ranks high. Only his father, the elder George Bush, had a higher average in his seventh quarter, at 69%. Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy are the other presidents with an average above 60% at this stage of their presidency.

Approval Averages During Seventh Quarter as President

President	Dates	Average
George H.W. Bush	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1990	69%
George W. Bush	Jul 20-Oct 19, 2002	68%
Lyndon Johnson	Apr 20-Jul 19, 1965	67%
Dwight Eisenhower	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1954	64%
John Kennedy	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1962	64%
Richard Nixon	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1970	55%
Gerald Ford	Jan 20-Apr 19, 1976	47%
Jimmy Carter	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1978	43%
Ronald Reagan	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1982	42%
Bill Clinton	Jul 20-Oct 19, 1994	41%
Harry Truman	Oct 20 1946-Jan 19, 1947	39%

Bush Still on Pace for Historic Year

For the year beginning on Jan. 20, Bush has so far averaged a 74% approval rating. This would place as the fourth-highest yearly average. Truman had the highest in 1945-46. Only seven times to date has a president had an average approval rating above 70% for a year in office.

Presidents With a Yearly Job Approval Average Above 70%, 1945-2001

President	Dates	Average
Truman	Apr 20, 1945-Jan 19, 1946	77.3%
Kennedy	Jan 19, 1961-Jan 19, 1962	76.4%
Johnson	Oct 20, 1963-Jan 19, 1964	76.3%
Johnson	Jan 20, 1964-Jan 19, 1965	73.4%
Eisenhower	Jan 20, 1955-Jan 19, 1956	72.1%
Kennedy	Jan 20, 1962-Jan 19, 1963	72.1%
Eisenhower	Jan 20, 1956-Jan 19, 1957	71.9%

Bush's average would be the highest for a president's second year in office. The previous best second year was the elder Bush's 67% average in 1990-1991. Other notable second-year averages are Eisenhower's 65% in 1954-1955 and Johnson's 65% in 1965-1966.

For his term to date, Bush has averaged a 70.6% approval rating. The best first-term average for a president was 74% for Johnson in 1963-1965 and 70% for Kennedy in 1961-1963. Kennedy has the highest average for a presidency, at 70.1%.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of approximately 1,000 adults, 18 years and older, conducted in 2001 and 2002. For results based on these samples, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

 

	Approve	Dis-approve	No opinion
2002
2002 Oct 3-6	67	28	5
2002 Sep 20-22	66	30	4
2002 Sep 13-16	70	26	4
2002 Sep 5-8	66	30	4
2002 Sep 2-4	66	29	5
2002 Aug 19-21	65	28	7
2002 Aug 5-8	68	26	6
2002 Jul 29-31	71	23	6
2002 Jul 26-28	69	26	5
2002 Jul 22-24	69	24	7
2002 Jul 9-11	73	21	6
2002 Jul 5-8	76	18	6
2002 Jun 28-30	76	19	5
2002 Jun 21-23	73	21	6
2002 Jun 17-19	74	20	6
2002 Jun 7-8	74	18	8
2002 Jun 3-6	70	23	7
2002 May 28-29	77	17	6
2002 May 20-22	76	17	7
2002 May 6-9	76	19	5
2002 Apr 29-May 1	77	20	3
2002 Apr 22-24	77	17	6
2002 Apr 8-11	75	20	5
2002 Apr 5-7	76	19	5
2002 Mar 22-24	79	17	4
2002 Mar 18-20	79	16	5
2002 Mar 8-9	80	14	6
2002 Mar 4-7	77	18	5
2002 Mar 1-3	81	14	5
2002 Feb 8-10	82	14	4
2002 Feb 4-6	82	14	4
2002 Jan 25-27	84	13	3
2002 Jan 11-14	83	13	4
2002 Jan 7-9	84	12	4
	Approve	Dis-approve	No opinion
2001
2001 Dec 14-16	86	11	3
2001 Dec 6-9	86	10	4
2001 Nov 26-27	87	8	5
2001 Nov 8-11	87	9	4
2001 Nov 2-4	87	9	4
2001 Oct 19-21	88	9	3
2001 Oct 11-14	89	8	3
2001 Oct 5-6	87	10	3
2001 Sep 21-22	90	6	4
2001 Sep 14-15	86	10	4
2001 Sep 7-10	51	39	10
2001 Aug 24-26	55	36	9
2001 Aug 16-19	57	34	9
2001 Aug 10-12	57	35	8
2001 Aug 3-5	55	35	10
2001 Jul 19-22	56	33	11
2001 Jul 10-11	57	35	8
2001 Jun 28-Jul 1	52	34	14
2001 Jun 11-17	55	33	12
2001 Jun 8-10	55	35	10
2001 May 18-20	56	36	8
2001 May 10-14	56	31	13
2001 May 7-9	53	33	14
2001 Apr 20-22	62	29	9
2001 Apr 6-8	59	30	11
2001 Mar 26-28	53	29	18
2001 Mar 9-11	58	29	13
2001 Mar 5-7	63	22	15
2001 Feb 19-21	62	21	17
2001 Feb 9-11	57	25	18
2001 Feb 1-4	57	25	18