Bill Clinton: Difference between revisions

A year after he left office, a Gallup poll found that 51 percent of Americansrespondents said they approved of the overall job Clinton did as president.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-and-messenger-bill-clinton-mounts-c/160358089/ Bill Clinton mounts comeback on the campaign trail]. ''[[News and Messenger]]''. April 15, 2002. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref> In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton's job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found that a strong majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different areas questioned.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/12/bush.clinton.poll/index.html | title=Poll: Clinton outperformed Bush | work=CNN | date=May 15, 2006 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> A June 2006 poll by Gallup found that 61 percent of Americans said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, a 10-point increase from the 2002 poll.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-retrospective-approval/160183598/ Retrospective approval ratings of past presidents, June 2006 poll]. [[Gallup Organization]]. ''[[The Plain Dealer]]''. December 30, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref> Gallup polls in 2007 and 2011 showed that Clinton was regarded by 13 percent of Americans as the greatest president in U.S. history.<ref>Lydia Saad, [http://www.gallup.com/poll/26608/lincoln-resumes-position-americans-toprated-president.aspx Lincoln Resumes Position as Americans' Top-Rated President: Reagan and Clinton lead among members of their respective parties], Gallup (February 19, 2007).</ref><ref>Frank Newport, [Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President: Lincoln and Clinton next on the list; Washington fifth], Gallup (February 18, 2011).</ref>

In 2010, 69 percent of Americansrespondents in a Gallup survey said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, including 47 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of independents. His sudden spike in popularity during this time was attributed to Americans comparing him to then-incumbent Democratic president [[Barack Obama]], who had low approval ratings.<ref>Jones, Jeffrey M. (February 15, 2018). [https://news.gallup.com/poll/226994/obama-first-retrospective-job-approval-rating.aspx Obama's First Retrospective Job Approval Rating Is 63%]. ''[[Gallup Organization]]''. Retrieved December 6, 2024.</ref> In 2014, 18 percent of respondents in a [[Quinnipiac University Polling Institute]] poll of American voters regarded Clinton as the best president since World War II, making him the third most popular among postwar presidents, behind John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.<ref name="Q Poll">[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056 Obama Is First As Worst President Since WWII, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Voters Say Romney Would Have Been Better] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703073437/http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056 |date=July 3, 2014 }}, Quinnipiac University (July 2, 2014).</ref> The same poll showed that just 3 percent of American voters regarded Clinton as the worst president since World War II.<ref name="Q Poll" />