Obama tops list of ‘worst presidents’

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

US Presidential Barack Obama speaks on immigration reform in the Rose Garden of the White House on June 30, 2014 in Washington, DC. A new poll Wednesday found President Barack Obama, who is enduring a tough second term, topping a list of the worst US leaders since World War II. PHOTO/AFP 

In Summary

• Presidents typically capture the most heat while they are in office, and many find that their spells in the White House are re-evaluated when they have retired and are out of Washington’s bitter partisan crossfire.
• Forty-five per cent of those polled said that America would have been better off had Republican Mitt Romney won the 2012 election, while 38 per cent said the country would be worse off.
• The Quinnipiac poll was consistent with other recent surveys, showing Mr Obama’s job approval ratings touching near historic lows of around 40 per cent.

By AFP
More by this Author

WASHINGTON, Wednesday
A new poll Wednesday found President Barack Obama, who is enduring a tough second term, topping a list of the worst US leaders since World War II.

The survey, by the polling institute at Quinnipiac University, revealed that 33 per cent of those asked saw Obama as the worst leader in the last 70 years. Twenty-eight per cent picked his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.

Quinnipiac said that 35 per cent saw Republican Ronald Reagan, president from 1981 to 1989, as the best US leader since 1945, with 18 per cent choosing Bill Clinton and 15 per cent going for the assassinated John F. Kennedy.

“Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of polling for Quinnipiac.

Forty-five per cent of those polled said that America would have been better off had Republican Mitt Romney won the 2012 election, while 38 per cent said the country would be worse off.

Presidents typically capture the most heat while they are in office, and many find that their spells in the White House are re-evaluated when they have retired and are out of Washington’s bitter partisan crossfire.

POPULAR ON THEIR LAST DAY

Mr Bush, who was deeply unpopular at the end of his second term, has seen his ratings edge up in recent years. Others like Clinton were popular on their last day in office and have seen their public opinion ratings remain strong.

The poll appeared to show a bias towards more recent presidents. Only 13 per cent said Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace, was seen as the worst president. Jimmy Carter, a one-term Democrat whose 1981-85 presidency is often pilloried, was seen as the worst president by only eight per cent.

The Quinnipiac poll was consistent with other recent surveys, showing Mr Obama’s job approval ratings touching near historic lows of around 40 per cent.

A string of political controversies and foreign policy crises have sullied Obama’s reputation. The poll found that by 54 to 44 per cent, voters believe the Obama administration is not competent at running the government.

Only 40 per cent of those asked approved of how Obama was handling the economy and only 37 per cent backed his management of foreign policy.