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Poll: Obama averages 63 percent approval in first quarter

President Obama has benefited from very high approval ratings during his first quarter in office, according to Gallup’s tracking average.

Obama’s high average of 63 percent is the highest for a newly elected president since Jimmy Carter’s 69 percent during his first quarter in 1977. Since 1953, only Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy have broken 70 percent in their averages, with 71 percent and 74 percent respectively.

Obama’s approval rating has held steady since taking office suggesting that Obama can expect his approval ratings to stay strong for “at least another quarter,” Gallup writes.

This chart, which documents how approval ratings changed for presidents from their first to second quarter, is pretty cool.

There was a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points in the poll.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-release.thehill.com