Barack Obama commands a commanding lead in public approval over his fellow living presidents, according to Antigua News Room, as a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds 57% of Americans view the former president favorably — far outpacing both of his Oval Office successors.
President Donald Trump holds a 34% favorable rating, while former President Joe Biden trails at just 30%, making Obama's standing more than 20 percentage points ahead of either man. Obama's inauguration of his presidential center comes at a moment of peak post-presidential popularity.
Among political independents, Obama's favorability is more than double that of either Biden or Trump. He also enjoys near-universal support within his own party — a distinction neither successor can claim. And while only about one in five Republicans view Obama positively, that figure still exceeds the share of Americans willing to offer cross-party support for Trump or Biden.
Other members of the presidential club fall somewhere between Obama and the lower-rated pair. Former President George W. Bush holds a narrowly positive rating at 42% favorable versus 33% unfavorable, while former President Bill Clinton's numbers are roughly evenly split.
Historical views of former presidents frequently shift over time, often improving. Bush, who left office with deeply negative ratings, saw his image recover significantly in subsequent decades. Trump himself experienced a notable swing — ending his first term at 33% favorability in CNN polling before climbing to 46% just ahead of his second inauguration, only to begin declining once more.
Obama, who faced mixed approval ratings during much of his second term, has sustained broad popularity in the years since leaving the White House.
Biden presents a starkly different trajectory. He entered office with a 59% favorability rating and departed at 33%. His current rating now sits below any point recorded during his presidency. Notably, the share rating him unfavorably has also eased from its peak, with a growing segment of the public offering no opinion at all. Clinton, similarly, has faced a more negative reassessment over the past decade.
As reported by Antigua News Room, the poll also points to a generational shift in how Americans remember their presidents. A growing portion of adults came of age politically during the Trump era, with little or no recollection of earlier administrations. More than four in ten adults under the age of 30 say they have no opinion of Bush or Clinton, respectively.
When asked in an open-ended question which president in U.S. history they most admire, Americans gravitated toward recent figures: 30% named Obama, 19% named Trump, 9% named Abraham Lincoln, 9% named Ronald Reagan, 6% named John F. Kennedy, and 5% named George Washington. Other living presidents were named far less frequently, with Clinton at 2% and Biden and George W. Bush each at 1%. Nearly 10% said they admired none of the presidents or offered no opinion.
Partisan lines were sharply drawn in those responses. Nearly two-thirds of Democrats — 64% — named Obama as the president they most admire, followed by Kennedy at 6%, and Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt at 5% each. Among Republicans, Trump topped the list with 53%, followed by Reagan at 18%, Lincoln at 8%, and Kennedy and Washington at 5% each.
