This President Had the Lowest Approval Rating Ever Recorded, And It’s Not Trump

In America, citizens are given plenty of choices. They collectively get to choose who they want to serve as their leader and decide how they want to feel about them — love, hate, or somewhere in between. Obviously, opinions are going to vary from person to person on each president as they assess them on their values, character, and of course, performance as a leader.

So when you ask someone how they feel about a particular president, their views might not match yours.

But when a poll is conducted among a widely mixed group of people differing in age, gender, and demographics, it helps paint a better picture of how people in general feel about a president and how they’re rated in terms of performing their duties.

While Donald Trump’s approval rating seems to be dropping ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, there’s actually someone who had an even lower rating. Keep reading to find out who it is.

President Harry S. Truman currently holds the title for having the lowest approval rating for a U.S. president in history, as of this writing. At least, that is what data from Gallup Polls determined. His lowest approval rating reached a whopping 22 percent during a Feb. 9-14, 1952 Gallup poll. That timeframe marks a point during Truman’s second term.

It seems he earned the record-low rating due to his handling of the Korean War, and the U.S. was also going through a slow economy.

Alonzo Hamby, a history professor from Ohio University, also pointed out that Truman was quite unpopular because there were “accusations of corruption in his administration” being tossed around.

Despite hitting a record low, Truman ended his term with a 45.5 percent job approval rating, per Gallup.

Donald Trump’s current approval rating stands at 31 percent. This is based on a CNN poll conducted by SSRS Opinion Panel at the end of March 2026, which included 1,201 respondents aged 18 and older. Surveys were obtained between March 26 and March 30, 2026.

Poll results revealed that only 27 percent of respondents approved of how Trump is handling inflation, which CNN notes is down from 44 percent the year prior.

Only 35 percent of respondents said they approve of Trump’s handling of his presidency overall, and 31 percent approve of how he is handling the economy.

What’s contributing to his lower rating is the 65 percent of people who say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions as of the end of March 2026. And while his rating has dropped to a record low for him, there is someone else whose rating was even lower, though not as low as Truman’s.

While Truman’s approval rating reached an all-time low, Bush is often recognized for holding the second-lowest spot. His approval rating dropped to 25 percent in October 2008 as a result of the financial crisis the U.S. went through. That period is widely considered one of the most severe economic downturns since the Great Depression and is often referred to as the Great Recession.

That said, Bush’s approval rating did increase significantly after the 9/11 attacks.