The Issue Approvals of Presidents Biden, Trump, and Obama in Charts
When we examine the approval ratings of previous presidents, it helps us to understand the issues they faced while in office. By comparing the approval ratings of presidents Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama, we can assess what policies they chose and how successful they were in getting those policies accepted by the public. This article will analyze the issues approval ratings of Biden, Trump, and Obama in chart forms.
Approval Rating of President Joe Biden
As President Biden is relatively new to office, his approval rating hasn’t yet been fully gauged, but general approval ratings from polls place him at around 56%. Below is a summary of the latest approval ratings from different sources:
• RealClearPolitics Average: 56.3%
• Gallup Poll: 56%
• Politico/Morning Consult: 56%
• FiveThirtyEight Average: 56.7%
• YouGov/Economist: 56%
Issues Approved by Biden
As President Biden still continues to work his way through his first term, the most current approval ratings he has seen are primarily focused on coronavirus relief, economic recovery, healthcare, and gun safety. He has also received approval ratings on specific issues that relate to foreign affairs, such as climate change and withdrawing troops from the Middle East.
• Coronavirus relief: 69%
• Economic recovery: 58%
• Healthcare: 59%
• Gun safety: 58%
• Climate change: 52%
• Withdrawing troops from the Middle East: 51%
Approval Rating of President Donald Trump
As his term came to an end in 2020, President Donald Trump’s approval rating was 37%. Below is a summary of the latest approval ratings from different sources:
• RealClearPolitics Average: 38.3%
• Gallup Poll: 39%
• Politico/Morning Consult: 38.5%
• FiveThirtyEight Average: 39.3%
• YouGov/Economist: 38%
Issues Approved by Trump
President
Trump’s approval ratings were largely focused on economic policies and immigration policies. He also saw high approval ratings on issues such as foreign affairs and crime control.
• Economic policies: 52%
• Immigration policies: 42%
• Foreign affairs: 47%
• Crime Control: 50%
• Healthcare: 39%
• Gun control: 35%
Approval Rating of President Barack Obama
At the end of his two terms in office, President Obama’s approval rating had dropped to just under 50% with 47%. Below is a summary of the latest approval ratings from different sources:
• RealClearPolitics Average: 47.1%
• Gallup Poll: 48%
• Politico/Morning Consult: 47.3%
• FiveThirtyEight Average: 47.8%
• YouGov/Economist: 46%
Issues Approved by Obama
President
Obama saw his highest approval ratings on healthcare, foreign affairs, and the economy. Other areas in which he received strong approval ratings were immigration policies, terrorism, and gun control.
• Healthcare: 53%
• Foreign affairs: 49%
• Economy: 47%
• Immigration policies: 42%
• Terrorism: 47%
• Gun control: 42%
Comparing the Issue Approvals
When we compare the issue approvals of Presidents Biden, Trump, and Obama, we see that all three of them saw highest approval ratings for healthcare, foreign affairs, and economic policies, but in different order. Biden had the highest approval ratings for coronavirus relief, economic recovery, healthcare, and gun safety, followed by foreign affairs, climate change, and withdrawing troops from the Middle East. Trump had highest approvals ratings for economic policies, followed by immigration policies, foreign affairs, crime control, healthcare and gun control. Obama received the highest approval ratings for healthcare, followed by foreign affairs and then economy, immigration policies, terrorism, and finally gun control.
The latest polls and surveys help us to better understand how the public view the policies of the president by looking at their approval ratings. We can compare the issue approvals of Presidents Biden, Trump, and Obama to see where they are aligning in some issues, such as healthcare, foreign affairs, and economic policies, while differing in others. With Biden recently entering office, we will get a more accurate look at how his policies fare with the public as more polls and surveys are conducted.
