2022-01-03 10:34:19
Republicans view Reagan, Trump as best recent presidents
When asked to name the president who has done the best job over the past 40 years, a majority of Democrats name Barack Obama. Republicans, by contrast, are divided between a president who served in the 1980s – Ronald Reagan – and the one who left office this year, Donald Trump.
About four-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (42%) say Reagan has done the best job as president over the past 40 years, while slightly fewer (37%) say Trump has done the best job.
Around six-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners (59%) say Obama has done the best job as president of any president of the past 40 years. Far fewer name Bill Clinton (19%) or Joe Biden (5%), who will complete his first year in office next month.
Seven presidents have served in the last 40 years, four Republicans and three Democrats. Among U.S. adults overall, 35% say Obama has done the best job over this period, followed by Reagan (23%), Trump (17%) and Clinton (12%). Relatively small shares among both the general public and among Republicans name either George W. Bush or George H.W. Bush, according to the survey, conducted in September on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.
Among Republicans, views on who has done the best job as president over the past four decades vary by race and ethnicity, age and other demographics.
Comparable shares of White and Hispanic Republicans say Trump has done the best job as president (38% and 33%, respectively). But White Republicans are more likely than Hispanic Republicans to name Reagan (45% vs. 28%), while a quarter of Hispanic Republicans (27%) say a Democratic president did the best job over the past 40 years. Black and Asian Republicans make up much smaller shares of the public; as a result, sample size limitations mean it is not possible to analyze their views. Half of Republicans ages 50 and older say Reagan has done the best job of any recent president, compared with 32% of those under age 50. There are smaller age differences in the shares of Republicans who name Trump. And while relatively small shares of Republicans in all age groups name Democratic presidents, those under 50 are more likely than those 50 and older to do so (19% vs. 3%).
Among Republicans who have not completed college, comparable shares name Trump and Reagan as the top recent presidents (40% and 38%, respectively). Among Republican college graduates, more say Reagan than Trump by a wide margin (51% vs. 29%).
Among Republicans who name Reagan or Trump as the best recent president, there are sizable differences in choices for the second-best president. Among Republicans who say Trump, about three-quarters (73%) say Reagan is the second-best president of the past 40 years. However, among those who point to Reagan, views of the second-best president are more varied: 54% say Trump, while 34% name other Republican presidents and 11% name Democratic presidents.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/20/republicans-view-reagan-trump-as-best-recent-presidents/
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