President Obama, seen here taking in the US-Belgium match with White House staff on Tuesday.
There have been twelve Presidents of the United States since World War II. According to the 1,446 respondents to a poll from Quinnipiac University, Barack Obama is both the worst and fourth-best of them.
Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, was named the worst president since World War II in a similar poll conducted in July of 2006. This time, he fared somewhat better: only 28 percent of respondents called him the worst, compared to 34 percent for Obama.
At the same time, just one percent named Bush the best president since 1945, compared to eight percent for Obama.
Respondents also named Ronald Reagan the best overall president of the past sixty-nine years. Sixty-six percent of Republicans selected Reagan, while thirty-four percent of Democrats chose Bill Clinton as the best.
As U.S. News and World Report notes, “Americans care about the economy and jobs” more than anything else. And, after inheriting an economy on the brink of collapse upon taking office in 2009, Obama has received steadily shrinking poll numbers over his handling of the issue.
On a related note, a large percentage of respondents said they believed Mitt Romney would have done a better job than Obama since the 2012 election. Forty-five percent of those who answered the question said the country would be better off with Obama’s opponent as president; thirty-eight percent said it would be worse.
Perhaps the most telling statistic in the poll? When given the option to select “I don’t know,” only four percent did so.
Quinnipiac conducted the poll from June 24-30. The poll’s margin of error is 2.6 percentage points.
Is Obama the worst president since World War II? Are polls like these flawed, inherently and deeply? How do you, the viewers at home, weigh terms like “best” and “worst” president? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
