Nixon Approval Rating Analysis

President Richard Nixon left office with dull presidential approval ratings. The decades since haven’t really helped restore his public image. But Nixon started his presidency with strong approval ratings, with a comfortable majority approving of his performance. That early strength, continue at least through the end of 1970, means that his average average across his whole presidency wasn’t that bad compared to other post-World War II presidents. It wasn’t great, either, but Jimmy Carter, Harry Truman, and Jerry Ford managed worse. But more revealing is the trend. By the end of his presidency, Nixon’s approval rating had tumbled to 24 percent. Remarkable, his disapproval rating climbed in direct connection to the fall in his approval rating. …show more content…
For someone who already had a long public career and was well known in the public eye, he had a remarkably low disapproval rating when he took office. As 1969 progressed, many of the people who had not held an opinion had apparently decided they did not like what they saw, even as his approval rating remained fairly steady. Through 1970, Nixon’s approval rating remained mostly steady, with a little decline that was matched by a slight increase in his disapproval rating. In April 1971, Nixon’s approval rating fell below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency, hovering just under that for the remainder of his presidency. His disapproval rating was also closing the gap with his approval rating. Nixon closed out 1972 with a landslide victory in the presidential election over George McGovern, but his approval ratings didn’t necessarily reflect that electoral win with high approval numbers. Through the year, his approval rating climbed slowly but steadily back over 60 percent. Just as he was being sworn in for a second term in the most expensive inauguration in history to that point, Nixon’s approval rating soared to the highest peak of his presidency 67 percent and then immediately went into