What Joe Biden’s approval ratings looked like during four years of presidency

President Joe Biden will leave the White House on Monday for the final time, ending four years of his presidency and more than half a century of political work.

Biden leaves with low approval ratings, but Americans’ satisfaction with his administration has fluctuated wildly since he first took office in 2021.

News week contacted the White House for comment on this story via email.

Why it matters

The inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday symbolizes the end of Biden’s presidency and a new era of conservative politics in the United States. With Republican majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and a conservative hold on the Supreme Court, Biden’s departure is the end of Democrats’ definitive hold in all three branches of government.

What you need to know

According to Gallup poll data, Biden’s average approval rating during his four years in office was 42.2%, a historically low figure. The only recent president to score lower was Biden’s predecessor and now successor, Donald Trump, who had an average approval rating of 41.1% during his first term.

Like many presidents, Biden entered the White House with a high approval rating of 57%, enjoying a honeymoon period after his decisive victory in the 2020 election.

Biden maintained high approval ratings during the first hundred days of his administration, but the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 led to a major shift in his popularity.

Despite the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, promised by successive presidents before him, Biden was held responsible by voters for the errors made during the withdrawal, which notably resulted in the deaths of 13 American soldiers.

Biden’s approval rating fell to 43% in September 2021 and will never exceed 50% for the remainder of his presidency. Its lowest point was 36% in July 2024, when the war in Gaza was approaching its first full year of conflict.

Ironically, Biden received a slight boost in his approval rating after announcing he would not seek a second term; his surprise dropout in July saw him climb to 45 percent approval in the following months, which was the closest he came to a return to positive numbers.

What people say

President Joe Biden wrote a farewell letter in an editorial published by The Washington Post: “I ran for president because I believed the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And it still is.

“America is an idea stronger than any army and bigger than any ocean. It is the most powerful idea in the history of the world. This idea is that we are all created equal , endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness We have never fully respected this sacred idea, but we have never strayed from it either and I do not believe that. the American people are will move away now.

“It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for more than 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a stuttering child from humble beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, ever be able to ‘sit behind Resolute’s desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States.

“I gave my heart and soul to our nation. And I received the love and support of the American people a million times over in return.”

What happens next

President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next president on Monday. Biden is expected to leave the White House before then.

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