Franklin D. Roosevelt’s action-packed first 100 days in office set a new yardstick for all presidents who followed. Here are highlights of the first 100 days of the past 15 presidents, as well as Gallup approval ratings at that stage for those who were elected starting in the 1950s.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Assumed office in the depths of the Great Depression and rescued the banking system, took the nation off the gold standard and established the foundation of the New Deal by signing 15 major bills into law affecting agriculture, industry, energy production and social welfare.
Harry S. Truman
82 percent approval rating at 100 days
Presided during the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the signing of the U.N. Charter and the testing of the first atomic bomb. Also met with allied leaders at the Potsdam summit to map out the postwar world.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
73 percent approval rating
Established the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, ordered all Army schools to desegregate and gave a speech against increased military spending.
John F. Kennedy
83 percent approval rating
Created the Peace Corps, established an equal employment opportunity committee and initiated pilot food stamp projects but ordered the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion meant to topple Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Lyndon B. Johnson
73 percent approval rating
Led the nation in mourning the slain Kennedy and appointed the Warren Commission to investigate. Announced a war on poverty, signed the Clean Air Act and pushed through Kennedy’s stalled tax cuts.
Richard M. Nixon
62 percent approval rating
Ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia and warned of resumed bombing of North Vietnam while dealing with an unprovoked North Korean attack on a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft.
Gerald R. Ford
48 percent approval rating
Declared the “long national nightmare” of Watergate over, appointed Nelson Rockefeller vice president, signed campaign finance reform and provided clemency to Vietnam draft evaders but provoked a furor by pardoning Nixon.
Jimmy Carter
63 percent approval rating
Granted full pardons to all Vietnam draft evaders, deregulated natural gas prices, resumed arms control talks with the Soviet Union and announced a national energy plan.
Ronald Reagan
68 percent approval rating
Welcomed home American hostages freed by Iran minutes after his inauguration, proposed a major plan to cut spending and taxes and lifted the grain embargo on the Soviet Union while surviving an assassination attempt that nearly killed him.
George H.W. Bush
56 percent approval rating
Brokered a bipartisan deal to end wars in Central America, established the National Space Council and managed the Exxon Valdez oil spill, but had his nomination of John Tower for defense secretary rejected by the Senate.
Bill Clinton
55 percent approval rating
Appointed Hillary Clinton, the first lady, to reform health care; signed the Family Medical Leave Act; responded to the bombing of the World Trade Center and a shootout with extremists in Waco, Tex.; but stumbled over attorney general nominees and gays in the military.
George W. Bush
62 percent approval rating
Assembled his administration after a transition truncated by the long Florida recount, rejected the Kyoto climate change treaty, created faith-based initiatives and resolved a standoff with China over the midair collision of two military aircraft.
Barack Obama
65 percent approval rating
Pushed through a $787 billion stimulus package to deal with a global financial crisis, bailed out the auto industry, signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and ordered the closing of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, though it never happened.
Donald J. Trump (first term)
41 percent approval rating
Withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, ordered a travel ban on mostly Muslim countries, appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fired the national security adviser Michael T. Flynn and ordered a strike on Syria.
Joseph R. Biden Jr.
57 percent approval rating
Distributed vaccines to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to restore the economy. Overturned his predecessor’s travel ban, halted construction of a border wall and rejoined the Paris climate accord.
Sources: The American Presidency Project, History.com, Gallup, news reports.
