Poll: Reagan Approval Improves
Aug. 6, 2001 -- Two-thirds of Americans look back favorably on Ronald Reagan's presidency, a better rating than he received while serving in the White House.
Reagan's average approval rating during his two terms in office was 57 percent, in the mid-range for a postwar president and tied with Bill Clinton's rating. But looking back today, more Americans — 66 percent — say they approve of Reagan's work, according to an ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll.
That's a familiar phenomenon: Presidents tend to be rated better as they recede from the fray. Reagan scored a similarly strong retrospective job approval rating in February 2000. And Jimmy Carter's was 66 percent in a poll a couple of years ago — a full 20 points higher than his career average while in office.
Reagan's approval rating while he served peaked at 73 percent in the spring of 1981, after he was shot and wounded in an assassination attempt, and hit 70 percent in 1986, after he ordered a bombing raid against Libya. It fell to a low of 42 percent in early 1983, following a surge in unemployment, and dropped to 44 percent in early 1987, during the Iran-Contra controversy.
Nearly seven in 10 Americans also report a favorable overall impression of Reagan, up 12 points since the last asking in 1994, and up from a low of 48 percent in August 1988. That may reflect public sympathy with the 90-year-old former president's struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Partisan Splits
Reagan still incites sharp partisan differences. A whopping 87 percent of Republicans approve of his work as president, but that dives to 48 percent of Democrats. Independents fall in between.
Reagan also gets a 79 percent positive rating from conservatives, compared to 69 percent from moderates and just 45 percent from liberals.
Methodology
This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone July 26-30 among a random national sample of 1,352 adults. The results have a 2.5-point error margin. Field work was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
