Gallup, Up, Up, and Away: How Presidential "Approval" Has Been Polling's Most Misleading Question
" In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way [president's name] is handling his job as president?" Chances are, unless you've been living under a rock these past two decades, you've seen this phrase at some point in relation to public opinion. This phrase was coined by Gallup, an American public opinion polling agency that first began asking a version of that question in 1938, to give the American people living through the Great Depression an opportunity to share their thoughts at a time when they had no other opportunity to do so. This was well before the now tiresome trope of "talking to voters in diners," and for decades was the only way for an average American to share his or her politics in a way that would make national news. In the early decades of Gallup, the agency would send out individuals and talk to people at their doors, a remarkable undertaking during a time when the internet, home phones, and even reliable public transportation ...
