Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

1. Happy Presidents' Day! What president had the highest and lowest approval rating since 1946?

2. Joe Biden’s current (as of Presidents’ Day 2024) approval rating is 39.5%. How does his approval rating compare to presidents since 1960.

3. Describe one trends from the visual above.

4. Presidential rally points are a rise in public approval of the president that follows a crisis as Americans "rally 'round the flag" and the chief executive. How have rally points impacted recent presidential approval ratings and do you imagine there is any event that could actually rally Americans to the same team today?

5. Think about how history will impact the future public’s opinion of all the presidents listed in the chart. In other words, 50 years from now, how will we regard these presidents? (That, is will we like each president more or less in the future???)

6. Explain how falling approval ratings affect the ability of presidents to govern.

7. How do presidential approval ratings impact midterm elections?

8. Notice the approval ratings of the one-term presidents from the visual above. If you were a 2024 campaign advisor to POTUS Biden what advice would you give him about his approval ratings and reelection.

9. They didn’t exactly have polling back then, but what do you imagine George Washington’s approval ratings would have been?

10. In Federalist No. 70, Alexander Freaking Hamilton argues for a strong executive leader, as provided for by the Constitution, as opposed to the weak executive under the Articles of Confederation. He asserts, “energy in the executive is the leading character in the definition of good government. What do you think Hamilton would think about approval ratings and their impact on presidential power?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Go to this interactive Wall Street Journal presidential approval ratings chart. Scroll through each president to see their approval ratings, and the inflection points where their approval went up or down. What generally causes approval ratings to fall and what usually causes approval ratings to go up? Contact POTUS BIDEN or tweet him at @WhiteHouse with one piece of advice about improving his approval ratings.

Get Creative

If presidential approval ratings were a ride at an amusement park, what ride would it be?

Learning Extension

Check out these Presidential Approval Ratings charts and story from the Pew Research Center. Or follow the daily interactive Biden approval ratings tracker from FiveThirtyEight. Take our online presidents quiz to see how much you know about the American Presidents?