ABSTRACT
Political analysts debated why Reagan was so incredibly popular among the American people. Reagan's personality, ideology, and television performances were some of the reasons suggested to explain why he received such high public opinion ratings. An examination of poll data, however, shows that Reagan was the most unpopular president of the 1953–88 period during the early part of his first term. Reagan received an extremely low rating of 51 percent in January 1981. According to public opinion polls, Reagan's popularity ratings were much lower than the ratings of FDR, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. Reagan's very low popularity at the start of his presidency, after a landslide victory, corroborates the findings of several election studies that the vote in 1980 was primarily a strong anti-Carter vote and not an overwhelming pro-Reagan vote. President Reagan's popularity was greatly exaggerated.
