Biden Job Approval a Respectable 57% at 100 Days

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As President Joe Biden approaches the symbolic 100^th day of his presidency at the end of this month, his job approval rating is back to its post-inauguration high of 57%. It has varied between 54% and 57% since he took office.

Biden's 100-day approval rating, based on an April 1-21 Gallup poll, well exceeds former President Donald Trump's 41% 100-day score but falls short of Barack Obama's 65% and George W. Bush's 62%. However, it's similar to readings in the mid- to high 50s for George H.W. Bush (58%) and Bill Clinton (55%).

Biden Averages 56% Approval in Entire First Quarter

Given the stability in Biden's approval rating thus far, his latest reading of 57% at roughly the 100-day mark nearly matches the 56% job approval score he has averaged during his first quarter in office, from Jan. 20 through April 19. Along with Biden's 100-day score, his first-quarter approval is on par with several of the past six presidents: G.W. Bush (58%), G.H.W. Bush (57%) and Clinton (55%).

Of the other two presidents who served during the past three decades, Obama, with a 63% first-quarter approval rating, was above par for the period, while Trump was well below par, averaging an all-time low of 41%.

All presidents taking office before 1989 had higher initial job approval ratings than Biden's, in terms of their first-quarter averages as well as their approval at 100 days.

	Approval at 100 days	First-quarter average
	%	%
2021: Biden	57	56
2017: Trump	41	41
2009: Obama	65	63
2001: G.W. Bush	62	58
1993: Clinton	55	55
1989: G.H.W. Bush	58	57
1981: Reagan	67	60
1977: Carter	63	69
1969: Nixon	61	62
1961: Kennedy	83	74
1953: Eisenhower	73	71
Approval at 100 days is based on latest April Gallup poll presidential approval ratings starting on or before April 29 of each year. First-quarter average based on ratings in Gallup surveys with start dates between Jan. 20 and Apr. 19 of each year.
Gallup

Views of Biden Steady at the Subgroup Level

The strong party divisions seen in Biden's approval rating in earlier readings have persisted in the latest, with 94% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans approving of his performance.

His current ratings by gender, age, race and education also roughly match his averages among these groups in January, February and March. He receives higher support from women, younger adults, non-White adults and college graduates than from their counterparts.

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
U.S. adults	57	40	3
Party ID
Democrats	94	5	1
Independents	58	37	5
Republicans	11	88	1
Gender
Men	50	47	4
Women	64	34	2
Age
18 to 34	60	36	4
35 to 54	57	39	3
55 and older	55	43	2
Race
White adults	45	52	2
Non-White adults	81	16	4
Education
College graduates	64	35	1
Not college graduates	53	44	4
Gallup, April 1-21, 2021

No Set Pattern for First-Year Ratings

There are nearly as many patterns to presidents' quarterly ratings in their first year in office as there are presidents.

Elected presidents starting their first term with 60% or better job approval tended not to see it grow; only John F. Kennedy achieved that in 1961. But others maintained high support (Richard Nixon), lost a moderate amount (Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan) or lost a sizable amount (Jimmy Carter and Obama). Downturns in the economy (such as in 1981) and controversy over specific policies (as with the Affordable Care Act in 2009) and criticism of being too pro-business (mentioned by Eisenhower detractors in 1953) were among the factors behind these declines.

Of the three presidents who had first-quarter approval ratings between 55% and 59%, Clinton experienced a slight decline in approval by his fourth quarter in office, while G.H.W. Bush and G.W. Bush both saw sizable gains, with the latter Bush's rise resulting from Americans' response to the 9/11 attacks in the third quarter. The fall of the Berlin Wall and events leading up to it in 1989 may have contributed to increases in the elder Bush's approval rating throughout his first year.

Trump is the only president with a first-quarter average approval rating anywhere near as low as his 41%, and it declined slightly from there.

	1st qtr	2nd qtr	3rd qtr	4th qtr	Change (4th vs. 1st qtr)
	%	%	%	%	pct. pts.
60% or higher
1961: Kennedy	74	76	77	78	+4
1953: Eisenhower	71	72	68	65	-6
1977: Carter	69	64	60	55	-14
2009: Obama	63	62	53	51	-12
1969: Nixon	62	62	60	63	+1
1981: Reagan	60	61	57	51	-9
55%-59%
2001: G.W. Bush	58	56	72	86	+28
1989: G.H. W. Bush	57	64	69	74	+17
2021: Biden	56	--	--	--	--
1993: Clinton	55	44	48	51	-4
Below 55%
2017: Trump	41	39	37	37	-4
Gallup

Bottom Line

Biden took office with a fairly normal level of popularity for recent presidents and has not done anything to shake that support with the American people. As evidenced by the great variation in the trajectory of past presidents' first-year approval ratings, where Biden's approval rating goes from here will be dictated by political, economic and global factors both within and beyond his control. However, extreme partisan differences in how he's viewed, should they persist, could limit the upper and lower bounds of his job approval rating, thereby limiting its movement.

Explore President Biden's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.