How will President Obama go down in history -- as a good or bad president. A new poll shows that 47% think he will be remembered as an outstanding or above average president, and 18% think he will be viewed as average. Only 35% say he will be viewed as a below average or poor president.
That puts him about in the middle of the pack for modern presidents. Kennedy, Reagan, Eisenhower, and Clinton are rated higher. And Bush I, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Bush II, and Nixon are rated lower. Many of those presidents have the advantage of time having passed though, and it's very possible that after a few more years the opinion of President Obama will grow even higher.
The numbers are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between January 4th and 8th of a random national sample of 1,032 adults, and has a 4 point margin of error.