America Needs a Popular President

For 50 years they built consensus; for the last 20, they've failed

We need presidents who strive for 60%, 70%, 80% public approval. Not because high approval ratings are the goal, but because to earn consistently high approval ratings, the president needs to behave in ways that are good for American unity.

America is always at risk of coming apart. The nation’s size, diversity, community-orientation, and liberty means it’s hard for us to agree at the national level.

But sometimes the nation needs to rally around a cause to get something big accomplished. We also need to appreciate what we share despite our differences so, even when we disagree, we can still talk, negotiate, and work things out. And without ongoing appeals to the things that bond us, we could easily end up in a intra-national cold war.

The president is the only nationally elected official.¹ Yes, the president is the head of the federal executive branch, but s/he has essential “head of state” duties, too. That means representing America to those outside our borders and representing America to all of us inside our borders. This includes keeping us together.

It’s astonishing how unpopular our presidents have been for the last 20 years. It is even more astonishing when you realize how popular our presidents generally were for the preceding 50+ years.

I reject the notion that any president during this era of polarization will necessarily be polarizing. That view excuses leaders for seeing half the nation as opponents. And that encourages the kinds of behaviors that keep us polarized.

We need presidents who strive for 60%, 70%, 80% approval ratings. Not because high approval is the goal. But because to earn consistently high approval, the president needs to behave in ways that are good for American unity.

We Like Ike…and Kennedy and Johnson and Nixon….

Do you realize how popular President Eisenhower was? Even the recession of 1957 never dropped his net approval below +12 percentage points (48-36).

You might chalk this up to the 1950s consensus, the modern era of good feelings. But look at his successor, JFK. His lowest rating was 56% approval. More of his tenure was above 70% than below!

Approve Until Things Go Very Wrong

Though LBJ and Nixon are remembered for the polarizing ends of their tenures, we shouldn’t forget how popular they were until things went sideways (with Vietnam and Watergate, respectively). LBJ spent two years north of 60%. Even the never-warm-and-fuzzy Nixon was virtually always at least +10 until the Watergate-related events of spring 1973. The general rule seemed to be that presidents purposely cultivated public support and retained it until they made huge mistakes.

America was not in great shape during the rest of the 1970s—oil shocks, recession, inflation, international unrest. Americans were unhappy, but we still gave Ford and Carter honeymoons. Despite his struggles, Ford had positive numbers for most of his tenure. Carter’s numbers didn’t go underwater until 15 months into the job.

A Generation of Approval

From Reagan’s inauguration in 1981 until 2005, America’s presidents were remarkably popular. They tried to be liked and effective, and they mostly succeeded. Apart from the 1982 recession and fallout from Iran-Contra, Reagan was typically +10 to +20. George HW Bush was astonishingly popular for most of his term. A sour economy at the exact wrong time did him in. But for much of his first three years, he was +30. Bill Clinton had a rocky start. But he was never far underwater. Once he tacked to the center in 1995 and built up his political capital, he had a remarkable five years of approval. He was consistently +20 to +30.

The Era of Bad Presidential Feelings

President George W. Bush started popular in 2001, and that popularity only grew after 9/11. He won reelection in 2004. But after July 2005, his approval was never higher than disapproval—Iraq, Afghanistan, the banking crisis, and the Great Recession saw to that. But the flip from positive to negative was a seminal moment. Presidents have struggled ever since.

Of course, Obama, Trump, Biden, and Trump have faced difficulties. But so did other presidents. The Cold War was hard. Civil Rights battles were hard. China was hard. Defeating the Evil Empire was hard. Managing the fall of the Berlin Wall was hard. But previous presidents found a way to earn and keep the public’s approval.

What’s astonishing is how badly our presidents have failed since 2005 to generate consistent support. It’s often felt like they haven’t tried—as though there’s virtue in earning the disapproval of more than half of the country.

America needs a president who understands that consensus support doesn’t mean weak-kneed-ism or middle-of-the-road-ism. You can be principled. But consensus-building, does require skills and dispositions that seem to be out of vogue: Optimism, accommodation, prudence, and so on.

My overarching point is that a president’s optimism, accommodation, and prudence aren’t just good for his numbers. They are good for America. They build our confidence and stability. They enable us to negotiate and compromise. They increase the nation’s capacity to get things done.

It is good for a president’s future place in history and the health of the country for that president to try to be embraced by a large share of Americans.

Why in the world won’t this era’s presidents do that?

1. Yes, the VP, too. But you know what I mean.