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Presidential Job Approval Is A Percentage Based Reading Essay

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Brandon Joens - CC9808249 P.S. 103 - Assignment #2 ¬¬¬Presidential Job Approval Presidential job approval is a percentage-based reading taken from a poll of a sampled group of Americans. The polling system used to determine this is the Gallup Poll. This poll is widely accepted as accurate since it first predicted the outcome of the 1936 presidential election. Since that time it has been used to collect ratings and get a better understanding of the public’s true opinion of the president’s performance. It has also brought to light what factors, whether outside or inside the president’s control, affect how the people view his job performance. Some of these factors include scandals, how well the economy is doing, support during times of crisis or a general level of acceptance during the first few months of the president’s first term. Historically presidents have been held to a higher moral standard than the rest of the public. This is apparent when a president or some one close to the president is involved in a unethical or scandalous behavior. President Truman is a good example of how a series of smaller incidents convinced the American people that he was not doing his job very well. President Truman experienced a very typical slow downward trend in his approval ratings from 1945 to 1953. A lot of presidents seem to experience the same trend, however in 1952 his ratings made a final drop to 22%. This drop was due in part to IRS allegations involving bribes and corruption. The

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