Today, 33% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s job performance, while 65% disapprove. Biden’s overall approval rating is nearly identical to his rating last month.
Biden also gets low marks for many personal traits and characteristics, with two exceptions: 62% say “even-tempered” describes Biden very or fairly well, while half say he stands up for what he believes in.
Partisans’ views of Biden’s personal characteristics
As is often the case, Republicans and Democrats sharply differ in their views of Biden’s personal traits. Very few Republicans and GOP leaners say most positive descriptions apply to Biden, although about a third (34%) say he is even-tempered and 28% say he stands up for his beliefs.
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are very positive about some – though not all – of Biden’s traits and characteristics. For example, 88% say he is even-tempered and roughly seven-in-ten describe him as someone who stands up for his beliefs, cares about the needs of ordinary Americans, is honest and is a good role model.
Yet Democrats express mixed views of some of Biden’s other traits. About half (53%) say he is mentally sharp; fewer say he is inspiring (47%) or energetic (43%).
Perceptions of Biden over time
For the most part, views of Biden’s personal traits have become less positive over the course of his presidency.
For example, during the 2020 presidential campaign, about half of Americans (53%) said the phrase “cares about the needs of ordinary Americans” described him very or fairly well.
The share describing him this way rose to 62% in March 2021, but has declined 19 percentage points – to 43% – since then.
This pattern is evident on other traits as well, including perceptions of whether Biden stands up for his beliefs and whether he is mentally sharp, honest or a good role model.
Evaluations of Biden’s energy and temperament were asked only in 2020 and the current survey. Currently, 62% describe him as even-tempered, little different than the 59% who said this in the summer of 2020.
A quarter of Americans now say “energetic” describes Biden at least fairly well – a 16-point drop from how the public saw Biden during the 2020 campaign.
The share of Democrats describing Biden as even-tempered is higher today (88%) than in 2020 (79%). On other traits, however, Democrats view Biden less positively than they did four years ago.
In 2020, about three-quarters of Democrats (74%) described Biden as mentally sharp. That share increased to 86% in March of 2021, early in his presidency. Since then, the share of Democrats describing Biden as mentally sharp has fallen 33 points (to 53%).
There has been less change in Republicans’ views of Biden’s personal traits, largely because relatively few Republicans held positive views of Biden to begin with. Still, fewer Republicans now say Biden is honest, mentally sharp, a good role model, that he cares about ordinary people, or stands up for his beliefs, than did so in March 2021.
Biden’s job approval ratings
Across most demographic groups, Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of Biden’s job performance.
But views of Biden differ by race and ethnicity, age and education:
Race
White Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance by a margin of more than 2-1 (68% disapprove, 30% approve). More than half of Hispanic (65%) and Asian (59%) Americans also disapprove.
By comparison, Black Americans are about evenly divided in their views (49% disapprove, 48% approve).
Age
While Americans across all age groups are more likely to disapprove than approve of Biden’s job performance, older Americans are slightly more likely than younger Americans to approve: 27% of those ages 18 to 29 approve, compared with 37% of those 65 and older.
Education
Approval of Biden is higher among those with more formal education: While half of those with postgraduate degrees approve, only about a quarter (27%) of those with a high school diploma or less education do.
Partisanship
Republicans overwhelmingly disapprove of Biden (93% disapprove). By contrast, a much smaller majority of Democrats (61%) approve of his job performance.
Two-thirds of liberal Democrats and 55% of conservative and moderate Democrats approve of Biden’s job performance. Among Republicans, 96% of conservative Republicans and 87% of moderate and liberal Republicans disapprove of Biden.
Biden’s presidency in the long run
Since he took office in January 2021, the share of Americans who say Biden will be an unsuccessful president in the long run has grown. A narrow majority (55%) now say this (up 6 points from last year), including growing shares of both Republicans and Democrats.
Republicans overwhelmingly think Biden will be an unsuccessful president, with 87% saying this. Just 3% of Republicans say he will be a successful president; 9% say it is too early to tell.
Democrats’ views, on balance, are more positive than negative, with 45% saying Biden will be a successful president in the long run. However, the share saying he will be an unsuccessful president has only grown since he first took office, rising 8 points in the last year (26% now say he will be an unsuccessful president, with 28% saying it is still too early to tell).
