President Barack Obama is leaving the Oval Office on Friday. Many in the country are sad to see him go; others are thanking God right now. Poll after poll has come out about the American people's assessment of his presidency as he leaves the office, and political pundits are taking a look at how this president will be remembered. A fair assessment of his presidency is that his legacy of polarisation will carry on, leaving it mixed.
There are two sides to every presidency.
Historians are still debating aspects of every American presidency, and differing opinions can be seen on almost any political blog site.
Barack Obama's defenders decades from now will continue to give their opinion about how he "saved" the American economy during the financial crisis and how he was the reason Osama bin Laden was captured. Others will point to how he forced a healthcare bill on a country that didn't want it and made his party suffer in ways no political party has suffered since the Great Depression all while nearly bankrupting the country. If you're in the middle of the road politically, who are you to side with?
A president's approval rating has a lot to do with how they are remembered.
Don't tell this to any left-wing pundits raving about how Barack Obama was the greatest president ever, but a president's Approval rating is a strong indicator of how he will be remembered.
In April of 2013, Gallup did a survey about how presidents have been remembered since World War II, and have shown that a final approval rating is typically how future generations will remember a president. Before anybody goes off about how Obama's approval rating is the highest in seven years right now, let's remember that the RealClearPolitics average has it around 55%.
You know who else ended their presidencies with approval ratings in the 50% range? Presidents Ford and H.W. Bush.
Shall we take a look at average approval ratings or job approval rating highs?
Other indicators, although not often as strong, are job approval highs and average approval ratings. According to Gallup, President Obama's average rating has only been about 48% over eight years, higher only than Ford, Carter, and Truman.
And his job approval high has only been 69%, higher only than Nixon and Reagan. These really are not the ratings of presidents who went out with 60% approval such as Reagan and Clinton. These are not the approval ratings of presidents with great job approval highs like Truman. These are not the approval ratings of presidents with majority average approval ratings like Kennedy or Eisenhower.
Which president does Obama's approval ratings resemble the most?
If we want to look to the future for a president that Obama will most likely be compared to, look no further than President Gerald R. Ford. The president coming up after Richard Nixon had an average approval rating of only 47%, one point below that of President Obama.
Ford's job approval high was only 71%, two points above that of Obama. And President Ford ended his presidency with 53% approval, two points below that of Obama.
How is Gerald Ford remembered by Americans? Many studies show Americans generally have a positive view of his presidency, but he isn't typically looked upon as a great leader.
For some, the Trump inauguration couldn't come fast enough.
More recently, Gallup did a poll on what Americans think of President Obama as he leaves the Oval Office. The biggest group of them, 29%, said he was an above average president. While that does seem like a high number, let's all remember in this same poll, 35% said he was either below average or poor. Only Nixon and Bush, Jr.
had higher negatives than that. Overall, Americans have a positive view of President Obama, but there certainly are plenty of people who are advising him not to let the screen door hit him too hard on Friday.
