Americans' Ratings of President Obama's Image at New Lows

More view him unfavorably than favorably

by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' views of President Barack Obama as a person have turned slightly negative, with 47% saying they have a favorable opinion of him and 52% an unfavorable one. That net favorable rating of -5 is the least positive personal assessment of Obama to date.

Americans have generally maintained a positive opinion of Obama personally throughout his presidency even as his job approval ratings have averaged no higher than 48% in each of his last four years in office. In addition to the current June 5-8 favorable ratings, there have been only three other times when his favorable rating did not exceed his unfavorable rating: once in October 2010, just prior to that year's midterm elections, and twice in late 2013 during the troubled rollout of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

In recent weeks, the president has been dogged by a scandal involving medical care for U.S. military veterans at Veterans Affairs hospitals as well as the controversy surrounding the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. These events to date do not appear to have dragged down his job approval rating in Gallup Daily tracking. However, they may be having a slight negative impact on his personal image.

In addition to his lower favorable rating, Americans now rate Obama less positively on each of six personal characteristics Gallup asked about than they did last year. The declines are not large, ranging from two percentage points on being "a strong and decisive leader" since last November to six points on "understanding the problems Americans face in their daily lives." But on all six dimensions, the public's ratings of Obama are now below the majority level and are the worst Gallup has measured for him to date.