Presidential Popularity

Report Outline
Public Opinion and the President
Asserting Executive Authority
Course of the Carter Presidency
Special Focus

Public Opinion and the President

Judgment of Carter by Pollsters and Press

Every four years Americans select a president, but the process of evaluating presidential performance goes on almost constantly. From the time he takes office, the person who occupies the White House is scrutinized as no other world figure. His position on issues is studied, his character analyzed and his popularity gauged in monthly polls. To a large extent, the political success or failure of an administration depends on how the chief executive is perceived by the public.

To command attention as the president does is to be subject to the changing tide of public opinion. Now marking his first year and a half in office, President Carter already has had his share of ups and downs. His public approval ratings, as measured by several polls, have sagged badly since taking office. Only Harry S. Truman's slipped farther in the same amount of time. This plunge in popularity has become an object of concern to the White House and of lengthy discussion in the press. Typical of the press commentary on Carter's first 18 months in office was the headline “What Went Wrong?” appearing over a U.S. News & World Report article. “It is clear,” said the author, “that a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the president is doing his job.”

Just why they were dissatisfied was a question that elicited responses in the press and other public forums. According to a Gallup Poll spokesman, “there is a decline in the number of people who feel he has a grasp of the job, and a plan to move the U.S. ahead.” In March the polling organization reported in its Gallup Opinion Index that of the people who disapproved of the job Carter was doing, the highest number said he had failed to live up to his campaign promises. On other matters, he was assailed especially for economic troubles at home and problems with both friends and foes abroad.