Gallup's historical look at overall Presidential approval ratings ranging from Truman to Bush. You may be surprised by some of the approval ratings; for example, Reagan, a modern Republican's hero, has the lowest approval rating of any Republican president in the given list. Time seems to play a substantial role in how we remember leaders. What do you think?

Hey Matt, cool post. It's curious Clinton's approval ratings aren't higher, considering the economy was doing well during his presidency and that his approval ratings actually rose during the Lewinsky scandal. I did notice that you used data from the "first-term averages" category rather than from the "overall averages" category. Was there a reason you chose this data? For example, Clinton's first-term average approval rating was 49.6%, however, his overall average was 55%.

Why are Johnson, Ford, Carter, and Bush Sr. missing from the poll? Was the poll only looking at two-term presidents? I think that;s important to point out if it is.

Barbara Creasy Yeah I also realized after replying it can't be looking at two term presidents since JFK is on it but Eisenhower is conspicuously missing. I want to know what the criteria was.