Forty percent of voters polled approve of the job Obama is doing. Poll: Obama worst prez since WWII

A plurality of voters think Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, a new poll says.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, 33 percent of voters think the current president is the worst since 1945.


Obama’s predecessor, former President George W. Bush, came in at second-worst with 28 percent, and Richard Nixon was in third place with 13 percent of the vote. After Jimmy Carter, who 8 percent of voters said was the worst president in the time period, no other president received more than 3 percent.

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Thirty-five percent of voters said Ronald Reagan was the best president since World War II, receiving nearly twice as many votes as any other former president. Bill Clinton came in second place at 18 percent, while John F. Kennedy came in third with 15 percent of the vote and Obama came in fourth with 8 percent saying he was the best.

All other remaining presidents received 5 percent or less. Five percent of voters said Dwight D. Eisenhower was the best president since 1945, while 4 percent said Harry Truman. Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush each received 3 percent. George W. Bush came in at 1 percent.

Forty-five percent of voters said the U.S. would be better off with Mitt Romney serving in the White House, compared to 38 percent who said the country would be in worse shape.

The survey comes as Obama in recent weeks has found his popularity at the lowest levels of his presidency.

The Quinnipiac poll reported more bad news about the president’s approval and competency ratings. Forty percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 53 percent who disapprove. Fifty-four percent of voters say the Obama administration is not competent at running the government.

The survey was conducted June 24-30 with 1,446 registered voters on land lines and cellphones. The margin for error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

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