President Joe Biden entered the White House in January 2021 with a 57% approval rating. Unfortunately for him, his popularity has never passed that mark, and it’s been mostly downhill for his approval rating in the years since.
Examining Biden’s approval rating as he approaches the end of his four years as president, it’s difficult to say with certainty which, if any, events directly correlated with his slide in popularity.
Even when major events in his presidency have occurred under his leadership, there haven’t been notable spikes or falls tied to them, with one possible exception: the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
The president’s approval rating began to drop steeply around June 2021, a few months into the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Biden was heavily criticized for the withdrawal, though it largely followed a deal President Donald Trump made with the Taliban in 2020.
Biden’s approval rating first dropped below 50% support in Gallup’s August 2021 survey, the same month the withdrawal violently ended.
The lowest Biden’s approval rating fell to in the first half of his presidency was 38% in July 2022, around a month after gas prices spiked to over $5 a gallon.
His approval rating didn’t stay there for long. A month later, in August, it shot back up to 44% when he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law.
Compared to past presidents
It’s not uncommon for the approval rating of US presidents to drop throughout their time in office.
Gallup
Former President George W. Bush experienced a tremendous spike in approval — jumping from around mid-50% approval to over 80% — after the September 11 terrorist attacks. But by the time he left office, his approval ratings were below 40%.
Gallup
Former President Barack Obama ended his presidency with a slightly lower approval rating than he had when he took office.
Gallup
Trump began his time in the White House with an approval rating of just over 40%. For the most part, his popularity actually slowly increased during his one term in office. His election denialism and the January 6 riots at the Capitol appear to have impacted polling respondents, and in his final month in office his approval rating dropped below 40%.
