President Joe Biden’s approval rating 18 months into his presidency is lower than any president’s in more than 75 years, according to FiveThirtyEight polling on Monday.
Biden’s approval rating, which has dropped to 38.4 percent, is historically lower than any other modern-day president’s with the exception of Harry Truman’s in his second year in office. In 1946, Truman’s approval rating was 33 percent 18 months into his term.
In this Feb. 27, 1946, file photo, Eleanor Roosevelt, right, wife of the late President Franklin Roosevelt, meets with President Harry S. Truman at the White House. (Byron Rollins, File/AP)
Biden’s approval rating 18 months into his presidency is worse than the following presidents’ at the same stage of their terms:
- Donald Trump (42.1 percent)
- Barack Obama (46.3 percent)
- George W. Bush (66.9 percent)
- Bill Clinton (46 percent)
- George H.W. Bush (63.2 percent)
- Ronald Reagan (44 percent)
- Jimmy Carter (42.1 percent)
- Gerald Ford (44.3 percent)
- Richard Nixon (54.1 percent)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (64 percent)
- John F. Kennedy (69 percent)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (69.9 percent)
FiveThirtyEight’s approval polling on Biden may be generous. According to Civiqs, Biden’s approval rating on Saturday sank to a historic low of 29 percent, the lowest mark of his presidency.
According to Gallup, only five presidents have descended into the 20s over the length of their presidency. Those presidents include:
- Harry Truman (22 percent)
- Richard Nixon (24 percent)
- Jimmy Carter (28 percent)
- George H.W. Bush (29 percent)
- George W. Bush (25 percent)
Biden’s approval rating has been steadily dropping due to a variety of factors. His poll numbers began to decline in August when the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal left possibly thousands of American citizens stranded behind enemy lines.
Taliban fighters wait for their meals to be served as they lunch at a restaurant in Kabul on August 26, 2021, after the Taliban’s military takeover following the US troop withdrawal. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden’s 40-year-high inflation and record high gas prices have also weighed down his approval rating. A Reuters poll from last week shows Biden’s economy has been the most important issue for voters for 43 weeks running.
Biden’s mental ability has been another issue that seems to have impacted voters. Sixty-two percent say Biden is not fit to be president because he is too old. A majority of voters believe Biden is unfit to be president and doubt his mental ability. Fifty-nine percent are worried about his mental and physical fitness.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.