section_path: Legacy/Public opinion
section_name: Public opinion
paragraph_text: Public opinion
  
  In exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, many voters still held Ford's pardon of Nixon in 1974 against him. By comparison, Carter was viewed as a sincere, honest, and well-meaning southerner. During his presidency, polls generally showed that most Americans saw Carter as likable and "a man of high moral principles". In the 1980 election, Reagan projected an easy self-confidence, in contrast to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. Carter was portrayed as more pessimistic and indecisive than Reagan, who was known for his charm and delegation of tasks to subordinates. Reagan used the economic issues, the Iran hostage crisis, and the lack of Washington cooperation to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader. Carter was the first elected incumbent president since Herbert Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.
  
  Carter began his presidency with an approval rating between 66% and 75%. He maintained approval ratings above 50% until March 1978, and the following month his approval rating fell to 39%, primarily due to the declining economy. His ratings briefly rebounded after the Camp David Accords in late 1978 but dipped during the 1979 energy crisis and got as low as 28% in July 1979. At the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis, his approval rating surged to 61%, up 23 points from his pre-crisis rating. Polls also found that up to 77% of Americans approved of Carter's initial response to the crisis, but by June 1980, amid heated criticism from across the political spectrum for his failure to free the hostages, his approval rating slumped to 33%; that same month Reagan surpassed Carter in pre-1980 election polling. As Carter was leaving office, a Gallup poll found that 48% of Americans thought he had been an "average" or "above average" president, 46% said he had been "below average" or "poor", and only 3% thought he had been "outstanding". His average approval rating during his entire presidency was 46%, and he left office as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents in history.
  
  In a 1990 Gallup survey, 45% of respondents said they approved of the overall job Carter did as president, leaving only Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson with lower ratings. In a 2006 poll, 61% of respondents said they approved of the job Carter did as president, his highest rating since 1979. In a 2021 survey, 27% of respondents said he had been an "outstanding" or "above average" president, 43% regarded him as "average", and only 24% said he had been "below average" or "poor". A 2025 YouGov poll listed Carter as the most popular politician in America, with an overall approval rating of 64%.
  
  In exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, many voters still held Ford's pardon of Nixon in 1974 against him. By comparison, Carter was viewed as a sincere, honest, and well-meaning southerner. During his presidency, polls generally showed that most Americans saw Carter as likable and "a man of high moral principles". In the 1980 election, Reagan projected an easy self-confidence, in contrast to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. Carter was portrayed as more pessimistic and indecisive than Reagan, who was known for his charm and delegation of tasks to subordinates. Reagan used the economic issues, the Iran hostage crisis, and the lack of Washington cooperation to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader. Carter was the first elected incumbent president since Herbert Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.
  
  Carter began his presidency with an approval rating between 66% and 75%. He maintained approval ratings above 50% until March 1978, and the following month his approval rating fell to 39%, primarily due to the declining economy. His ratings briefly rebounded after the Camp David Accords in late 1978 but dipped during the 1979 energy crisis and got as low as 28% in July 1979. At the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis, his approval rating surged to 61%, up 23 points from his pre-crisis rating. Polls also found that up to 77% of Americans approved of Carter's initial response to the crisis, but by June 1980, amid heated criticism from across the political spectrum for his failure to free the hostages, his approval rating slumped to 33%; that same month Reagan surpassed Carter in pre-1980 election polling. As Carter was leaving office, a Gallup poll found that 48% of Americans thought he had been an "average" or "above average" president, 46% said he had been "below average" or "poor", and only 3% thought he had been "outstanding". His average approval rating during his entire presidency was 46%, and he left office as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents in history.
  
  In a 1990 Gallup survey, 45% of respondents said they approved of the overall job Carter did as president, leaving only Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson with lower ratings. In a 2006 poll, 61% of respondents said they approved of the job Carter did as president, his highest rating since 1979. In a 2021 survey, 27% of respondents said he had been an "outstanding" or "above average" president, 43% regarded him as "average", and only 24% said he had been "below average" or "poor". A 2025 YouGov poll listed Carter as the most popular politician in America, with an overall approval rating of 64%.