President Obama’s second year in office was more polarizing than his first, and the most divisive second year of any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower,
according to Gallup polling.
Obama’s approval gap between Democrats and Republicans was 68 percentage points, the largest since 1953. Ronald Reagan came in second at 56 percent for his second year in office.
Obama has said he admires and respects the late president’s leadership qualities. Their administrations have similarities — severe recession with slow economic turnarounds.
As a comparison, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, whose administrations are viewed as less than successful, had significantly smaller gaps, 41 percent and 29 percent, respectively, for year two.
But by year three, things change significantly. President George W. Bush had a partisan gap exceeding 70 percent in the later years of his presidency.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.