August was a cruel month for President Biden
Afghanistan has certainly contributed to Biden’s downward slide, with 60 percent disliking how he handled that issue. Biden also experienced serious erosion on two other key concerns. Since April, approval of his economic management fell seven points to 45 percent, while support for his handling of the pandemic plunged 12 points to 52 percent. Only two presidents at this early stage have seen their overall approval numbers fall into negative territory: Donald Trump
History teaches us that presidents whose ratings plummet can recover. Harry S. Truman took office after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Americans rallied behind him with 87 percent expressing support. But one year later, Truman’s job approval fell to a paltry 27 percent. Americans were fed up with labor strikes, meat shortages and Truman’s inability to cope. Republicans took control of Congress, with the party poised to win the White House. But Truman did not give up, and in 1948 he rallied voters against a “Do Nothing Congress” and won a stunning upset. At the start of his second term, Truman’s approval rating was back to a robust 69 percent.
At the start of 1986, 72 percent liked Ronald Reagan job performance. But the Iran-Contra affair changed all that. The exposure of illegal sales of arms to Iran in return for the release of U.S. hostages, with the proceeds benefitting the Nicaraguan Contras, saw Reagan’s approval numbers fall 25 points to 47 percent. Sixty-two percent disapproved how Reagan handled that controversy. But arms control agreements with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that helped end what Reagan called the “Evil Empire” boosted his ratings. By November 1988, Reagan’s job approval stood at a healthy 60 percent — enough to propel his vice president, George H.W. Bush, into the White House.
In 1993, Bill Clinton
Read More: Can Biden make a comeback? What history teaches us (and doesn’t)