Gallup's presidential approval ratings poll is ending after eight decades
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Gallup will stop tracking presidential job approval ratings after more than eight decades of capturing the public's opinion toward the man in the Oval Office.
The big picture: While Gallup will not continue charting presidential approval ratings — as it has throughout the post-WWII era — it says it will remain committed to polling on issues that shape everyday lives.
Driving the news: The company decided to discontinue publishing approval and favorability ratings of individual political figures to reflect an "an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership," a spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Axios.
- "Leadership ratings have been part of Gallup's history," the statement read. "At the same time, the context around these measures has changed."
- Leadership approval ratings are now "widely produced, aggregated and interpreted, and no longer represent an area where Gallup can make its most distinctive contribution," the statement continued.
The latest: President Trump's second-term approval rating slipped to 36% in December, the last job approval charted on the pollster's website.
- Trump's overall approval rating and polling on top issues, like immigration and the economy, have been a persistent drag on the president in his second term.
- When asked by Axios whether political pressure contributed to the decision to discontinue approval ratings, Gallup emphasized that it was "a strategic shift solely based on Gallup's research goals and priorities."
By the numbers: Gallup's approval ratings have long served as a historical barometer of American sentiment toward the White House.
- They display high points, like a whopping 87% approval for President Harry Truman in June 1945 — and the low, like when his approval plummeted to 22% in February 1952.
- President George W. Bush achieved the highest presidential job approval rating Gallup has ever recorded following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when he reached 90%. By October 2008, he had fallen to 25%.
- President John F. Kennedy had the highest average approval rating among the presidents tracked by Gallup at roughly 70%.
Go deeper: Trump's immigration erosion worries his team
