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The Short Answer
Who Had the Highest ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ Presidential Job Approval Rating?
The Short Answer

Who Had the Highest ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ Presidential Job Approval Rating?

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- George W. Bush registered a 90% job approval rating shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Those attacks prompted the largest rally in support for a president in ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½'s polling history. A Sept. 7-10, 2001, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ poll found 51% of Americans approving of the job Bush was doing. The first poll conducted after the attacks, from Sept. 14-15, 2001, saw Bush's job approval rating surge 35 percentage points to 86%. A subsequent Sept. 21-22 poll -- conducted after Bush addressed a joint session of Congress to discuss the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks -- showed a further increase in his job approval to the record 90%.

Bush's rating surpassed the previous high in any ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ poll by one percentage point. George H.W. Bush had an 89% job approval rating in 1991 after the U.S. won the Gulf War.

Although the younger Bush had the highest rating in any single poll, John Kennedy's average 70% job approval throughout his time in office is the best for any president since World War II.

¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ measures presidential job approval on each survey it conducts. Explore President Joe Biden's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ Presidential Job Approval Center.


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