Which US president has the highest Gallup approval rating average in modern history?

1. What “highest approval” means: averages vs. peaks

The term “highest approval” can mean two different things in Gallup records: a single highest recorded approval at a point in time (a peak), or the highest average approval across a presidency. Sources distinguish short-term spikes — such as George W. Bush’s 90% in the days after Sept. 11, 2001 — from the multi-week or full‑term averages that Gallup compiles in its Presidential Job Approval Center ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Eisenhower’s sustained popularity leads the modern field

Gallup’s compiled data and interactive center indicate that Dwight D. Eisenhower stands out for having the highest sustained approval averages in the post‑World War II era when measured by Gallup’s consistent question format and multi‑day/weekly tracking that form the historical baseline ^[1]. The Gallup archive is the consistent source for comparisons because it has asked the same approval question across presidencies ^{[1] [3]}.

3. Why historians and pollsters favor Gallup’s measure

Researchers and archives rely on Gallup because it offers a continuous, consistent question wording and an unbroken series of national samples for presidents from Harry Truman through modern administrations; the American Presidency Project compiles these Gallup‑based final averages for cross‑presidential comparison ^{[1] [4] [3]}. That consistency makes Gallup averages the standard metric for “which president had the highest approval” in many sources.

4. Peaks can mislead: Bush’s 90% is a classic example

George W. Bush’s 90% approval after 9/11 is the single highest Gallup measurement recorded for any president at a point in time, but that is a short‑term spike and not his overall average across the term ^[2]. Gallup and secondary compilers explicitly separate these momentary highs from long‑term averages ^{[2] [1]}.

5. Compilations that researchers use for “highest average”

The American Presidency Project republishes Gallup’s final and all‑data approval ratings as consolidated tables, which scholars use to compare term averages and identify which presidents had the highest sustained approval ^{[4] [3]}. Gallup’s own Presidential Job Approval Center provides the underlying daily or periodic polling that feeds those averages ^[1].

6. Alternative holdings and methodological caveats

Other aggregators (e.g., FiveThirtyEight’s heir projects or Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin) compute their own rolling averages and weight polls differently, which can change short‑term comparisons; but Gallup’s single‑source series remains the standard when a single consistent question is required across decades ^{[5] [3]}. Available sources do not mention any Gallup‑based revision that would change Eisenhower’s lead in sustained approval averages since Gallup’s interactive center is the cited authority ^{[1] [3]}.

7. How to read these numbers responsibly

Journalistic and scholarly readers should treat single‑day peaks and multi‑month or full‑term averages separately: peaks show public reactions to events; averages show enduring political standing. Gallup’s archives and the American Presidency Project present both the raw time series and the computed averages so researchers can choose the appropriate metric for the question being asked ^{[1] [4]}.

8. Bottom line and next steps for verification

For the question “Which U.S. president has the highest Gallup approval rating average in modern history?” Gallup’s historical series and the American Presidency Project point to Dwight D. Eisenhower as the leader in sustained approval averages, while George W. Bush holds the single highest recorded point ^{[1] [2] [4]}. If you want the exact numeric average by Gallup for each president or a downloadable table, consult Gallup’s Presidential Job Approval Center and the American Presidency Project’s compiled final‑rating tables directly ^{[1] [4]}.