President Biden’s first-year average approval rating was 48.9 percent, according to Gallup, which ranked lower than many other presidents but remained higher than his predecessor, former President Trump.
Gallup polled Biden’s approval rating at 13 separate occasions over the course of his first year in office, with an average of 48.9 percent of respondents giving him a positive report.
The president entered office with a strong approval rating of 57 percent in January 2021, according to Gallup. Between January and early August his approval rating ranged between 57 percent and 49 percent, a time when COVID-19 cases were on the decline as more Americans got vaccinated.
By the end of August, however, the Biden’s approval rating took a turn, notably around the same time of the U.S.’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that was marked by a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport, which killed 13 American troops. Forty-three percent of those polled gave the president positive marks.
His approval rating remained steady between October and December, teetering between 42 percent and 43 percent. An increase in COVID-19 cases and supply chain bottlenecks that drove up prices and inflation nationwide likely stymied an increase in his approval rating.
In January of this year only 40 percent of those polled said they approved of the way Biden was doing his job, the lowest rate recorded by Gallup in his presidency.
Only one commander in chief — former President Trump — had a lower first-year approval rating than Biden, with 38.4 percent of Americans giving him a positive report, according to Gallup. Former President Clinton came close to Biden with 49.3 percent approval rating his first year.
Right ahead of Clinton is former President Reagan, who had a 57.1 percent approval rating his first year in office.
Biden’s approval rating drop over the course of his first year in office can mainly be attributed to independents, according to Gallup. Only 33 percent of independents gave Biden positive marks right now, compared to more than 50 percent who approved of the job he was doing during his first six months in office.
His support among Democrats is also declining, according to Gallup, falling from 90 percent or higher before December to around 80 percent.
His approval rating among Republicans has been low throughout his presidency, ranging between 4 percent and 11 percent.