President Obama’s Legacy

In anticipation of President Obama’s final State of the Union address on Tuesday, this month’s political report takes a look at how Americans view President Obama’s legacy. AEI public opinion expert Karlyn Bowman, along with Heather Sims and Eleanor O’Neill, finds that the “opinion of Obama in general and with respect to specific issues [is] more negative than positive, although it is heavily influenced by partisan affiliation.” Major findings from the report include:

• Overall performance: Nationally, 50 percent say President Obama’s failures will outweigh his accomplishments, while 44 percent believe his accomplishments will outweigh his failures (Pew). His approval rating hovers around 45 percent, and his disapproval rating has been higher than his approval rating for most of the past two years in CNN/Opinion Research Corporation polls.
• What Democrats think: Currently, 81 percent of Democrats consider his presidency a success, and 77 percent say they are either very or somewhat satisfied with it (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, CBS News/The New York Times).
• On the issues: Approval of Obama’s handling of terrorism has declined during his presidency from 61 percent in February 2009 to 38 percent in November–December 2015 (Gallup and CNN/Opinion Research Corporation). A Fox News question asked eight times since 2009 shows registered voters consistently divided about whether the Obama administration has made the economy better or worse, most recently with 42 percent saying better and 47 percent worse.

For further analysis on how Americans feel about President Obama’s time in office, read the accompanying piece in Forbes here. To read the full political report, which also includes polling data on how Americans feel about the GOP caucus and Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, click here.

To request an interview with Karlyn Bowman, please contact AEI media services at mediaservices@aei.org or 202-862-5829.

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