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Most Americans say the news media has devoted too much coverage to Barack Obama's family and personal life, but the right amount to his leadership style and policy proposals.

How have the news media covered the early days of the Obama presidency? How does that coverage stack up against that of his predecessors? A new study examines the tone and focus of Obama’s media narrative and how compares it to Bill Clinton’s and George Bush’s.

Overview As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity. Fully 73% of Americans – including as many as 46% of Republicans – hold a favorable view of […]

A close look at reactions to Reagan's first few months in office provides striking parallels with what polls now find about opinions of Obama. And a consideration of the Reagan experience may well give some clues as to what lies ahead for the 44th president.

Overview Shortly before President Obama took office in January, the public was uncharacteristically optimistic that Republicans and Democrats would work together more to solve problems in the year ahead. Less than three months later, those expectations have faded and most see a return to partisan politics in Washington. A majority (53%) currently says that Republicans […]

For all of his hopes about bipartisanship, Barack Obama has the most polarized early job approval ratings of any president in the past four decades.

More than two months into Barack Obama's presidency, as many people incorrectly identify him as a Muslim as did so during the 2008 campaign with white evangelicals and Republicans most likely to misidentify his religious affiliation.

President Will Face Challenges on Economic Crisis, Other Issues

By Erin Carriere-Kretschmer, Senior Research Associate, Pew Global Attitudes Project On his first trip overseas, U.S. President Barack Obama intends to tackle the current global economic downturn and NATO commitments in Afghanistan, with stops in Britain, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Turkey. Public opinion polls suggest Obama may have reason to expect a mostly warm […]

Overview President Barack Obama’s approval rating has slipped, as a growing number of Americans see him listening more to his party’s liberals than to its moderates and many voice opposition to some of his key economic proposals. Obama’s job approval rating has slipped from 64% in February to 59% currently, while disapproval has jumped from […]