Math 101: A lesson for Tom Beyerlein and the Dayton Daily News

The headline on the front page of the paper today reads “Obama’s drop in approval rating is steepest since Truman”. The data from an accompanying chart on page A9 tells a different story. From Harry S. Truman through Barack Hussein Obama only five Presidents have seen their approval ratings increase over a span of one year: Dwight Eisenhower (3%), John F. Kennedy (5%), Richard Nixon (2%), George H. W. Bush (29%), and George W. Bush (26%).

The remaining seven Presidents saw their approval ratings drop from Harry Truman who saw his approval rating go from 87% to 43% (a difference of 44%) to Ronald Reagan who saw his approval rating go from 51% to 49% (a difference of only 2%). For their claim of Obama suffering the “steepest” approval rating drop since Truman to be true, his drop in approval ratings would have to surpass that of Ford, Carter, Johnson, Clinton, and Reagan; but that isn’t the case.

Here endeth the lesson.

Dayton Daily Democrat News