The Wall Street Journal has a chart of presidential approval ratings since 1946. I was struck by how all of them (with one exception) ended their terms with lower ratings than they began. Then I thought duh. That’s why most of them ended their terms. But wait, the ONE president that gained approval over his years in office is also the ONE who was impeached! It just goes to show how ridiculous and wasteful it is to bring perjury charges against someone for publicly lying about an extramaital affair.
(link via Grow-A-Brain)
Stumble This
Reddit!
I wonder if it's fair to give JFK's final approval ratings to LBJ, tho? I'm sure no one polled after he was assassinated, and I'd be curious to see what would have happened had that been done.
Clinton was impeached? where was I?
Clinton was impeached December 19, 1998. I don't know where you were. Not that I memorized the date; but Wikipedia is good for that sort of thing.
It's also interesting that the highest approval ratings are all tied to U.S. wars.
I hope Bush doesn't see this graph and get any ideas on how to improve his poll numbers...
Yeh, because the war thing sure worked out well for Johnson and Nixon.
Clearly this graph indicates that Clinton's popularity is directly linked to his perjury trial being "ridiculous and wasteful".
...
That chart doesn't seem right. Going by my childhood memory, Reagan was a much more popular president than Bush Sr., even during Desert Storm.
Unless the Reagan poll was weighted towards all the homeless families that became a staple of American life during those trickle down years...
Reagan was facing Iran-Contra hearings at the end of his term. Dozens of indictments, a few convictions, a few thrown out on technicality, but the clear implication that he did, in fact, negotiate with Iranian terrorists and launder the money is what tanked his approval ratings. Also, "I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart tells me that's true, but the facts tell me it is not." Also, he was funding Osama bin Laden, not that that had anything to do with his approval rating, I just think it's an interesting fact to point out.
It's because all the republicans hard work took more than a term or two to take affect and Bill, who I totally thought would be a cool guy to party with, got to reap the benfits. It's like American Idol, but lamer.