The US’s 2nd septuagenarian President has ratings as bad as the first

The US’s 2nd septuagenarian President has ratings as bad as the first

Don and Joe – the last oldie nominees?

The latest monthly Gallup poll with is Presdiential approval ratings out and the trend is shown in the chart above. The firm makes the following observation:

Except for Donald Trump, every U.S. president since Harry Truman has enjoyed a honeymoon period characterized by above-average approval ratings upon taking office. Biden’s recent slides in approval put him in the company of Trump and Bill Clinton, whose ratings were at or below Biden’s current 43% at some point in the first eight months of their presidencies. However, by September 1993, Clinton’s approval ratings began to recover and averaged 50% that month. Thus, among elected presidents since World War II, only Trump has had a lower job approval rating than Biden does at a similar point in their presidencies..

I just wonder wheher it is just a coincidence that the two with the worst ratings ever were also by far the oldest to be nominated by their parties. Are men in their late seveneties simply too old all to articulate visions for their country that resonte?

It migh be said that Biden is just going through a bad patch. I’m not so sure. His good initial polling was surely a product that he wasn’t Trump but that is now wearing off.

Mike Smithson

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