The 2024 Presidential election may still be over a year away, but when it comes to how America feels about the Commanders-in-Chief of its recent past, the votes are in. And a member of one of the nation’s most famous political families sits atop the rankings by a wide margin.
According to a new Gallup poll, John F. Kennedy is the most highly-rated former U.S. President.
Incredibly, Kennedy’s popularity persists despite holding office for less than a full term over six decades ago. That first term as President was cut short by a gunshot that took his life in Dallas while waving at constituents during a Presidential motorcade.
In fact, this November will mark the 60th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination. Of the nine former Presidents included in the poll, Kennedy’s tenure was the furthest in the past, yet he enjoyed a 90% approval of his job performance in the poll, with just 8% disapproval – by far the best ratio.
In distant second place was Ronald Reagan, who was first elected in 1980 and served two terms from 1981-1989. Reagan earned a 69% approval rating and 28% disapproval.
Seven of the nine former Presidents in the poll received better than 50% approval.
After Kennedy’s 90% and Reagan’s 69%, the next five were George H.W. Bush (66%), Barack Obama (63%), Bill Clinton (58%), Jimmy Carter (57%) and George W. Bush (57%).
The most recent former President’s approval rating isn’t much different from the numbers he engendered while in office, with just 46% saying they approved of Donald Trump’s job during his only Presidential term from 2017-2021, with 54% disapproving.
This is Trump’s first appearance in Gallup’s poll regarding former Presidents. The last time the poll was taken was five years ago, midway through Trump’s stay in the White House.
Only Richard Nixon, whose Presidency ended in his resignation in 1974 following the Watergate scandal, rated lower with a 32% approval and a whopping 65% disapproval rating.
The other two Presidents who have served since Kennedy’s 1960 election, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford, were excluded from this year’s poll because, in the most recent previous survey, almost 20% of respondents could not offer opinions on their Presidencies, according to a Gallup news release.
The poll was conducted from June 1-22 of this year.
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