Which modern presidents have the most consistently high Gallup approval trends by year?
Executive summary
Gallup’s long-running approval series shows a handful of modern presidents with consistently high year-by-year averages — notably Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy in mid-20th century peaks and, in more recent decades, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush at specific high points — while recent presidents show larger swings and partisan polarization (Gallup historical overview) [1]. Gallup’s 2020s reporting stresses widening party gaps and unusually low/volatile ratings for Joe Biden and Donald Trump: Biden’s 42.2% term average ranks near the bottom of Gallup records and Trump’s second-term quarterly averages have ranged in the mid‑40s with later second‑term lows in the high 30s [2] [3] [4].
1. What “consistently high” means and why Gallup year-by-year trends matter
“Consistently high” in Gallup’s framework is best read as presidents whose annual or year‑quarter averages stayed well above the historical midpoint and showed limited downward drift across their terms; Gallup’s historical pages and presidential-specific trend pages are the primary source for such comparisons [1]. Those year‑by‑year trends capture public reaction to events, so a smooth, high line implies both sustained public confidence and fewer crisis shocks, while jagged lines often reflect partisan conflict or episodic crises [1].
2. Mid‑century exemplars: Eisenhower and Kennedy
Gallup’s long‑run charts identify Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy as among the presidents with the highest retrospective approval peaks: Kennedy’s retrospective job approval on some Gallup measures reaches very high levels and Eisenhower’s approval was consistently strong through much of his presidency [1]. Those administrations benefited from postwar economic stability and foreign‑policy consensus that produced steady Gallup numbers [1]. Available sources do not provide full year‑by‑year numeric tables here, but Gallup’s historical center is the cited repository for those long‑run comparisons [1].
3. Modern high points: Reagan and George W. Bush (context matters)
Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both registered sustained high approval at important moments — Reagan during the economic recovery years and Bush after 9/11, when Bush’s approval reached a wartime high near 90% in Gallup’s tracking [5] [1]. Those peaks were strong for their times, but Gallup’s data also show later declines for each president, making “consistently high” a relative judgment across entire terms rather than single high events [5].
4. The opposite trend: recent volatility and polarization (Biden, Trump)
Gallup’s reporting for the 2020s highlights extreme polarization and volatility: Joe Biden’s term average of 42.2% places him second‑lowest in Gallup’s post‑WWII records, signaling a generally weak and uneven approval trajectory across years [2]. Donald Trump’s approval has likewise been volatile; Gallup shows mid‑40s averages for a second‑term quarter and separate polling in 2025 found his approval dropping into the high‑30s as political events unfolded, underscoring how recent presidents’ year‑by‑year trends are shaped by partisan gaps and episodic crises [3] [4].
5. Why party gaps make “consistent” numbers rare today
Gallup explicitly documents record party gaps in approval for institutions and presidents in the 2020s, meaning a president can have near‑uniform backing from their own partisans while losing nearly all opposing‑party support; that creates flat but polarized approval lines that are “consistent” only within a partisan subgroup, not across the electorate [6] [7]. Thus, a president’s apparent steadiness can mask deep polarization — a crucial caveat when naming “most consistent” modern presidents [6].
6. Data limits, methodology and where to go next
My synthesis relies solely on Gallup pieces and a related encyclopedia summary provided in the search set; full year‑by‑year numeric comparisons require consulting Gallup’s Presidential Job Approval Center and historical tables for exact annual averages and charts [1]. Available sources do not mention a ranked list that directly names the “most consistently high by year” across all modern presidents; researchers should extract annual averages from Gallup’s database to compute standard deviations and means before issuing a definitive ranking [1].
7. Bottom line for readers deciding who “tops” the list
If “consistent and high” means a president whose Gallup line stayed elevated and relatively flat across most years, mid‑20th‑century figures like Eisenhower and Kennedy (and event‑boosted presidencies such as George W. Bush immediately after 9/11) are the clearest examples in Gallup’s historic coverage [1] [5]. Recent presidents show the reverse pattern: strong partisan loyalty but large inter‑party divergence and year‑to‑year swings that make a clean, modern “most consistently high” label unsupported by the current Gallup summaries without further numeric analysis [2] [3] [6].
Sources cited above are Gallup’s historical and topical reporting and a summary reference captured in the supplied search results [1] [5] [2] [3] [4] [6] [7].