There was considerable coverage about the high popularity of President Barack Obama as he left office — often in comparison with the dropping polls of President Trump.  However, the White House pushed back on what it considered misleading poll stories.  Now Gallup may support the position of the White House — at least on the average of the Obama numbers.  Most polls show a surge of support at the end of Obama’s term.  Gallup shows Obama at relatively low polling numbers on average in comparison to past presidents.  This does not compare the polling at the time of his departure.  Indeed, even Nixon showed better polling numbers.  However, another poll this week shows Obama as just behind Reagan as the country’s greatest president.

The Gallup poll shows the following ranking since World War II:

  1.  Kennedy – 70.1%
  2. Eisenhower – 65%
  3. G.H.W. Bush – 60.9%
  4. Clinton – 55.1%
  5. Johnson – 55.1
  6. Reagan – 52.8%
  7. G.W. Bush – 49.4%
  8. Nixon – 49%
  9. Obama – 47.9%
  10. Ford – 47.2%
  11. Carter – 45.5%
  12. Truman – 45.4%

Only three presidents scored worse than Obama since Gallup started doing these surveys in 1945: never-elected Gerald Ford (47.2%), one-termer Jimmy Carter (45.4%), and Harry Truman (45.4%).

That means that only three presidents (Ford, Carter, and Truman) had lower polling numbers.

These polls can be obviously questionable on their conclusions like the greatest president determination.  The Quinnipiac University poll found 29 percent favoring Obama as opposed to  30 percent who cite Ronald Reagan.  That is not overwhelming.  Besides everyone knows that Madison is the greatest president.  That is the result of my personal poll which found that one out of every one professor in my home voted for Madison.