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- Polls show Americans view President Joe Biden less favorably than former Presidents Barack Obama or Donald Trump.
- More than three-quarters of Americans, including 57% of Democrats, believe Biden broke campaign promises.
- Biden's approval ratings align with President Richard Nixon's, showing polarized opinions on his policies.
SALT LAKE CITY — As he prepares to leave public office, the American public had dimmer views of President Joe Biden than predecessors Donald Trump or Barack Obama, according to a survey from the Associated Press's NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
AP-NORC conducted the poll between Dec. 5-9, 2024, reaching 1,251 adults in the U.S.
When Obama left office, 52% of the public regarded him as a great or good president. When Trump left hist first term of office, he was still viewed favorably by 36% of the public. Opinions about Biden have fallen lower than his predecessors, with just 25% regarding him as a great or good president.
A little over 1,000 participants were asked how they believed Biden handled his job as president throughout his four-year term, and the most significant decrease in approval happened between January 2021 and January 2022. Interestingly, approval among Democrats who were polled fell 22% during his first year, while Republican approval only fell 12%. After this initial drop, approval ratings only fell 3 percentage points more among voters in both parties.
Overall, nearly half of Americans believe the country, as a whole, is much or somewhat worse off than it was when Biden took office. Split by political affiliation, 82% of Republicans see the country as worse off since Biden took office, along with 13% of Democrats. On the other hand, 56% of Democrats see the country as much or somewhat better off since Biden took office, compared to only 4% of Republicans.
A majority of Americans believe Biden failed to keep his promises
An overwhelming majority of Americans, 77%, believe Biden did not keep his campaign promises while serving as president. This number includes 57% of Democrats.
Politifact has tracked Biden's 99 most important campaign promises. His top five included getting COVID-19 under control, bipartisan cooperation on the economy, a national commission to address issues in police departments, a road to net-zero emissions by 2050 and improvements to Obamacare.
Biden kept his promises regarding COVID-19, emissions and Obamacare, while compromising on the economy and policing, the tracker reported. Overall, Politifact shows Biden kept 33% of his campaign promises, compromised on 32% and broke 34%.
Biden's rate compares with President Richard Nixon
A recent Gallup poll found Biden's approval rating aligned most closely with former President Richard Nixon, who had a minus-42 net rating. However, while the two presidents had similar net scores, the poll found that Biden's ratings were more polarized than Nixon's.
Nixon resigned from the presidency in 1974 after the Watergate scandal.
Of Nixon, the National Review recently wrote, "Some modern conservative defenders portray Nixon as a sworn enemy of the administrative state, a characteristic certainly evidenced by some of his speeches."
The National Review continued to list several of Nixon's policy contributions, including wage and price controls, the expansion of affirmative action in the federal government and an attempt to change the direction of the Supreme Court.
Biden has followed Nixon in all three of these areas, establishing price controls on prescription drugs and energy, hiring chief diversity and inclusion officers in federal agencies and appointing Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court Justice, replacing Stephen Breyer.
Positive and negative impact on policy
When asked what kind of impact Biden had on different areas of policy, a majority of Americans viewed his influence on the cost of living, immigration and major foreign conflicts, including the wars in Israel and Ukraine, as largely negative.
However, in terms of creating jobs, lowering prescription drug costs and decreasing student debt, Americans view Biden's policies as largely positive.
The only area of policy that participants overwhelmingly believed Biden had no impact on was climate change.
Opinions range widely between the two parties on the impact of Biden's policies, with many on the left applauding as he increased government spending and many on the right concerned about the impact of high deficits on Americans.
