1. Analyzing Nixon’s Approval Ratings
1968
1974

2. What are presidential approval ratings?

3. What are presidential approval ratings?
Presidential job approval ratings were introduced during FDR’s administration to gauge public support for the POTUS during his term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program.

4. How are they used?

5. How are they used?
Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. While most Americans accept that public opinion polls are inherently biased, they are generally accepted as a statistically valid indicator of the nation’s mood toward a particular president.

6. What president has had the lowest approval rating since WWII?

7. What president has had the lowest approval rating since WWII?
Harry Truman 22% in February of 1952.

8. What president has had the highest approval rating since WWII?

9. What president has had the highest approval rating since WWII?
George W. Bush 92% in September of 2001

10. Graphing Nixon’s Approval Ratings
Review the data provided.
Determine the best way to graphically depict the data on the provided graph paper.
Be sure to differentiate the events associated with Watergate.
Answer the analysis questions and be prepared to discuss.

11. After graphing Nixon’s approval ratings throughout his presidency…
What commonalities do you notice among Nixon’s approval ratings when they are high? and when they are low?
What does the data reveal about the Nixon Administration that might otherwise have been obscured by the fallout and legacy of Watergate?