August 26, 2005 Bush Approval Rating Continues to Drop Current 40% approval is lowest of administration to date
by Frank Newport and Jeff Jones GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll reflects further erosion in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, continuing the slow but steady decline evident throughout the year so far. The poll -- conducted Aug. 22-25 -- puts Bush's job approval rating at 40% and his disapproval rating at 56%. Both are the most negative ratings of the Bush administration. Bush's previous low point in approval was 44% (July 25-28, 2005) and his previous high point in disapproval was 53% (June 24-26, 2005).
Bush's average approval rating for the last three Gallup Polls -- all conducted in August -- is 43%. The rolling average has been steadily declining throughout the year. Bush's average approval ratings for January, February, and March of this year were in the 50% to 52% range, but they then began declining slowly in subsequent months. Bush's average approval rating in May was 48%, declining to 46% in June, rising slightly in July, and then declining again to the current three-poll average of 43%.
The following chart shows the rolling average for Bush's job approval rating this year, with each average consisting of three poll measurements.
The current poll finds a drop in support for Bush among independents, and a small drop in support among Republicans to the lowest level of his administration.
In two July polls in which Bush averaged an overall 49% approval rating, an average of 46% of independents approved. In the subsequent three polls (July 25-28, Aug. 5-7, and Aug. 8-11), Bush's overall approval average dropped to 45%, and his average support among independents fell to 37%. Now, in the current poll, 32% of independents approve. (An average of 41% of independents have approved across all 2005 polls to date, excluding the most recent poll.)
Bush's support among Republicans -- although still very high -- is now at the lowest level of his administration. His current 82% approval rating among Republicans is down from the 85%, 86%, 87%, 87%, and 86% recorded in the last five polls prior to this one, and is below the 89% Republican approval rating he has received across all 2005 polls before the most recent poll. He has averaged a 92% approval rating among Republicans for his entire presidency.
Bush's approval rating among Democrats remains very low. His current 13% is down slightly from his 2005 average (excluding the current poll) of 17% and down from his administration average among Democrats of 35%.
Historical Comparisons
There have been seven U.S. presidents re-elected to a second term since World War II (although two of them -- Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson -- had initially ascended to the presidency without being elected). Here's where they stood in August of the year after their re-election (or, in the case of Truman, in June):
President Time Approval rating Harry Truman June 1949 58% Dwight Eisenhower August 1957 63 Lyndon B. Johnson August 1965 65 Richard Nixon August 1973 34 Ronald Reagan August 1985 61 Bill Clinton August 1997 61 George W. Bush August 2005 43
Bush's current 43% job approval rating is the lowest of all of these presidents with the exception of Richard Nixon, who was beset by the woes of Watergate by the summer of 1973. (Of course, Bush's most recent 40% is lower still by comparison.)
Satisfaction
The drop in President Bush's job approval rating has been accompanied by a continuing drop in the American public's overall satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States today.
Just 34% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in this country in the Aug. 22-25 Gallup Poll, while 62% are dissatisfied. This is the lowest satisfaction level of the entire Bush administration to date and is the lowest recorded by Gallup since January 1996.
The average satisfaction rating for 2005 before this poll has been 41%. The average for the five June, July, and August polls before this one in which satisfaction has been rated is 40%.
Thirty-five percent of poll respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 29% as Republicans, and 34% as independents.