Obama’s Quarterly Approval Rating Ranks Only in 32nd Percentile

President Barack Obama’s approval rating registered 46.8 percent for his 14th quarter in office, according to Gallup, ranking only in the 32nd percentile of all presidential quarterly approval averages compiled by the polling firm since 1945.

The historical average is 54 percent. Obama has averaged 49 percent job approval during his 14 quarters. While the 14th quarter fell below that average, it did represent an improvement from 45.9 percent in the 13th quarter.

Four post-World War II presidents were elected to a second term — Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Of those, only Bush had an approval rating below 50 percent in his 14th quarter. That rating was 47.9 percent.

At 46.8 percent Obama is ahead of the two post-World War II presidents who lost their re-election campaigns — Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Carter had an approval rating of 35.8 percent in his 14th quarter, and Bush had a rating of 39.2 percent.

Among the other post-war presidents, Obama's 14th quarter rating is closest to George W. Bush, who won a close election over John Kerry in 2004.

But Obama’s rating is also close to the 46 percent of Gerald Ford during his eighth quarter in office, which took place in the spring and early summer of 1976. Ford ascended to the oval office when Nixon resigned and then lost the 1976 election to Carter.