President Barack Obama’s approval rating may be on the upswing, but he remains one of the most polarizing presidents in modern history, according to a new Gallup analysis.
Gallup found that over Obama’s sixth year in office, an average of 79% of Democrats and just 9% of Republicans approved of the job he was doing, in a report out Friday.
That 70% gap in approval from the parties ties for the fifth-most polarized year for a president in the past 60.
With the economy continuing to improve and the political battles of the midterms safely behind him, Obama has enjoyed slightly higher approval ratings in recent months.
But his tenure has been one of the most polarizing overall of any modern president. Each of his six years in office have ranked in the top 10 most polarized since 1953, with President George W. Bush taking the other four slots.
And as an election looms, the polarization escalates.
Obama’s most polarized year was his fourth, when average Democratic approval was at 86%, while Republicans approved of him at an average of 10%. Bush’s year heading into his reelection fight was also his most polarizing.