This statistic shows the average annual change in real GDP per capita in the United States from President Hoover to Obama, as of 2011. The biggest economic growth happened during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The Real Gross Domestic Product per capita increased by 5.25 percent each year.

Additional information on President Barack Obama’s first term economic policy performance

“It’s the economy, stupid” as the now famous saying by former President Bill Clinton goes is often used to demonstrate the importance continuants place on the economy’s performance. Appointed to President of the United States in 2008, President Obama entered the job in the early stages of a global economic crisis. The unemployment rate in the United States since 1990 demonstrates that Obama oversaw a reduction in unemployment rate since an initially sharp increase to over 9 percent in 2009 and 2010. Prior to the reduction, public approval of President Obama and the Republicans in congress in handling the economy shows that the public’s trust in Obama waned from 61 percent in February 2009 to 42 percent in November 2011. The fluctuation of America’s economy meant that Obama’s first term saw him reach an average of 76 thousand private sector jobs created per month as of June 2012, leaving him sixth in private sector job creation on the list of post-war presidents.

As leader of the most economically influential country on the planet, praise and criticism of Obama’s economic performance is also a global issue. In 2012, opinion on Obama’s management of global economic issues by country demonstrates the variety in opinion held in and across countries. While countries such as Britain and Germany whose economies appeared to be recovering held Obama’s economic policy in a positive light, opinion was more negative in Egypt and Greece were the economic situation was less optimistic.

In 2024 the real gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States increased by 2.8 percent compared to 2023.
What does GDP growth mean? Essentially, the annual GDP of the U.S. is the monetary value of all goods and services produced within the country over a given year. On the surface, an increase in GDP therefore means that more goods and services have been produced between one period than another. In the case of annualized GDP, it is compared to the previous year. In 2023, for example, the U.S. GDP grew 2.5 percent compared to 2022. Countries with highest GDP growth rate Although the United States has by far the largest GDP of any country, it does not have the highest GDP growth, nor the highest GDP at purchasing power parity. In 2021, Libya had the highest growth in GDP, growing more than 177 percent compared to 2020. Furthermore, Luxembourg had the highest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, a better measure of living standards than nominal or real GDP.

As of the first quarter of 2025, the GDP of the U.S. fell by 0.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024. GDP, or gross domestic product, is effectively a count of the total goods and services produced in a country over a certain period of time. It is calculated by first adding together a country’s total consumer spending, government spending, investments and exports; and then deducting the country’s imports. The values in this statistic are the change in ‘constant price’ or ‘real’ GDP, which means this basic calculation is also adjusted to factor in the regular price changes measured by the U.S. inflation rate. Because of this adjustment, U.S. real annual GDP will differ from the U.S. 'nominal' annual GDP for all years except the baseline from which inflation is calculated. What is annualized GDP? The important thing to note about the growth rates in this statistic is that the values are annualized, meaning the U.S. economy has not actually contracted or grown by the percentage shown. For example, the fall of 29.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 did not mean GDP is suddenly one third less than a year before. In fact, it means that if the decline seen during that quarter continued at the same rate for a full year, then GDP would decline by this amount. Annualized values can therefore exaggerate the effect of short-term economic shocks, as they only look at economic output during a limited period. This effect can be seen by comparing annualized quarterly growth rates with the annual GDP growth rates for each calendar year.

This poll, fielded April 5-12, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way that Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, health care, and the federal budget deficit, what they liked best and least about Obama, whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction, and what they thought was the most important problem facing the country. Information was collected on whether respondents approved or disapproved of the way Congress was handling its job, whether they approved or disapproved of the way their representative in Congress was handling their job, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of President Obama, how respondents would rate the national economy, and who they thought was mostly to blame for the state of the national economy. Respondents were queried on whether they thought that the government's stimulus package made the economy better or worse, whether they thought that the country needed a third political party, whether they would rather have a smaller government with fewer services or a bigger government providing more services, how they felt things were going in Washington, DC, whether they thought the federal government should spend money to create jobs even if it means increasing the budget deficit, and whether they would rather reduce the federal budget deficit or cut taxes. Respondents were also asked who they thought was to blame for the current federal budget deficit, whether they thought providing government money to banks and other financial institutions was necessary to get the economy out of a recession, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, John McCain, George Bush, Ron Paul, Glen Beck, and Sarah Palin. Information was collected on what political figure the respondents admired most, whether they thought Sarah Palin would have the ability to be an effective president, whether they thought President Obama understands the need and problems of people like themselves, whether respondents thought he was more of a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative, whether they thought his policies were moving the country more towards socialism, whether they thought he favored a particular race over another, and whether they thought the Obama Administration had raised or lowered taxes for most Americans. Respondents were asked whether they thought that the federal government should require nearly all Americans to have health insurance, whether they thought it would be a good idea to raise income taxes on households that make more than $250,000 a year in order to help provide health insurance for people who do not already have it, whether they approved or disapproved of requiring health insurance companies to cover anyone who applies regardless of whether they have an existing medical condition, and whether they thought that the programs such as Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost of those programs for taxpayers. Respondents were queried on whether they thought legal immigration into the United States should be kept at its presents level, increased, or decreased, how serious a problem they thought illegal immigration was, whether they thought that global warming was causing a serious environmental problem, whether they thought gay couples should be allowed to marry, whether they thought abortion should be legal, whether they thought gun control law should be made more strict, what socialism means to them, and whether they thought it was ever justified for citizens to take violent action against the government. Respondents were also asked a number of questions about the Tea Party movement, including how much have they heard about it, whether they had a favorable opinion of it, whether they supported it, and whether they thought the Tea Party movement generally reflected the views of most Americans. Finally, respondents were asked if they were ever active in a political campaign, whether they purchased gold bars or coins in the past year, what political party they usually vote for, what news network they watched most, how concerned were they that they or someone in their household would lose their job in the next year, whe

This poll, fielded January 14-17, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, foreign policy, the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, health care, the threat of terrorism, and the United States response to the earthquake in Haiti. Respondents were queried on whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about the next three years with Obama as president, whether they thought that Obama had strong qualities of leadership, and whether they believe that Obama says what he believes most of the time, or says what he thinks people want to hear. Respondents were also asked whether they thought that Obama's policies have generally helped or hurt the economy, whether they thought Obama has brought real change to the way things are done in Washington, whether they thought the United States' image in the world has gotten better since Obama has been president, whether they thought that Obama would make the United States health care system better if the health care legislation passed, and whether they thought that Obama has done too much or too little for the nation's banks, financial institutions, auto industry, homeowners, the middle class, and small business owners. Information was collected on whether respondents thought that there would be a major earthquake in the United States in the next 20 years, whether the federal government was adequately prepared to deal with a major earthquake, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, whether they approved of the way Joe Biden was handling his job as vice president, whether they approved of the way Michelle Obama was handling her role as first lady, whether they approved of the way that Hillary Clinton was handling her job as secretary of state, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Sarah Palin, and whether they would like to see Sarah Palin run for president in 2012. Respondents were asked whether they thought that the views of the people in the Tea Party movement generally reflect the views of most Americans, whether they thought that autism was a serious problem, how likely they thought it would be that in their lifetime there would be a cure for autism, whether they thought the housing market in their area would get better or worse in the next year, whether they currently rented their home, or bought it with a mortgage, or had their home entirely paid for. Finally respondents were asked how they felt about financial companies paying their employee bonuses after receiving bailout money from the government, whether they thought these bonuses were a major economic problem, who they thought benefited most from the bailout, whether they had enough income to save money or whether they had just enough to meet bills and obligations, and what social class they would say they belonged to. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.

Adding to national debt is an inevitable fact of being President of the United States. The extent to which debt rises under any sitting president depends not only on the policy and spending choices they have made, but also the choices made by presidents and congresses that have come before them. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush President Ronald Reagan increased the U.S. debt by around **** trillion U.S. dollars, or ****** percent. This is often attributed to "Reaganomics," in which Reagan implemented significant supply-side economic policies in which he reduced government regulation, cut taxes, and tightened the money supply. Spending increased under President George W. Bush in light of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To finance the wars, President Bush chose to borrow the money, rather than use war bonds or increase taxes, unlike previous war-time presidents. Additionally, Bush introduced a number of tax cuts, and oversaw the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. Barack Obama President Obama inherited both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the financial crisis. The Obama administration also did not increase taxes to pay for the wars, and additionally passed expensive legislation to kickstart the economy following the economic crash, as well as the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The ACA expanded healthcare coverage to cover more than ** million more Americans through programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Though controversial at the time, more than half of Americans have a favorable view of the ACA in 2023. Additionally, he signed legislation making the W. Bush-era tax cuts permanent.

Introduced in 1993, the Empowerment Zone (EZ), Enterprise Community (EC), and Renewal Community (RC) Initiatives sought to reduce unemployment and generate economic growth through the designation of Federal tax incentives and award of grants to distressed communities. Local, Tribal, and State governments interested in participating in this program were required to present comprehensive plans that included the following principles: Strategic Visions for Change, Community-Based Partnerships, Economic Opportunities, and Sustainable Community Development. Communities selected to participate in this program embraced these principles and led projects that promoted economic development in their distressed communities. The EZ/EC initiative was implemented in the form of three competitions authorized by Congress in 1994 (round I), 1998 (round II), and 2001 (round III). The EC designation expired in 2004 and EZ and RC designations generally expired at the end of 2009. However, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-312 extended the Empowerment Zone and DC Enterprise Zone designations to December 31, 2011. Following the end of the first EZ designation extension on December 31, 2011, the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) of 2012, signed into law by President Obama on January 2, 2013, provided for an extension of the Empowerment Zone designations for Empowerment Zone Tax Credit purposes only until December 31, 2013. The ATRA of 2012 did not extend the designation of the DC Enterprise Zone. The third retroactive extension of the Empowerment Zone designation, for the purpose claiming EZ tax credits only, was the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (TIPA 2014). TIPA 2014 was signed into law by President Obama on December 19, 2014 and extended the EZ designation for the purpose of businesses and entities claiming EZ tax incentives until December 31, 2014. TIPA 2014 did not extend the designation of the DC Enterprise Zone. To learn more about Empowerment Zones Renewal and Enterprise Communities (EZRC) visit: https://www.hud.gov/hudprograms/empowerment_zones, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Data Dictionary: DD_Empowerment Zones Renewal and Enterprise Communities

Date of Coverage: Through 2014

This poll, fielded December 4-8, 2008, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Opinions were sought on how well George W. Bush was handling the presidency, whether things in the country were on the right track, respondents' rating of the condition of the economy, and whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse. Respondents were asked their opinions of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama. Several questions also addressed the Obama Administration including how confident respondents were in Barack Obama's ability to make the right decisions regarding the country, whether respondents felt optimistic about the next four years with Barack Obama as president, and whether respondents approved of Obama's cabinet selections and his nomination of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Respondents were asked their opinions about how well things were going for the United States' efforts to restore order to Iraq, how well they thought the war in Afghanistan was going for the United States, and the likelihood that there would be another terrorist attack in the United States within a few months. Other questions addressed whether respondents approved of the federal government providing financial assistance to banks and other financial institutions, the big three auto makers, and homeowners in attempts to improve the economy. Respondents were also asked whether the government should have a say on how the auto companies are managed, whether the government should require the auto makers to build more cars that use alternative fuels if they received financial aid, and whether or not the auto makers going out of business would have a major impact on the nation's economy. Other topics included the housing market, the job market, job security, and respondents' personal finances. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, political party affiliation, political philosophy, household income, voter registration status and participation history, and religious preference.

This poll, fielded September 19-22, 2008, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A national sample of 1,082 adults was surveyed, including oversamples of African Americans for a total of 163 African American respondents. Respondents were asked whether the Democratic or Republican party could be trusted to do a better job coping with the main problems the nation would face over the next few years, whether things in the country were going in the right direction, and how concerned they were about the national economy. Respondents were also asked how closely they were following the 2008 presidential race, their opinions of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, their opinion of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, for whom they would vote in the general election in November, which candidate had the best chance of getting elected, and how comfortable respondents would be with a president who was African American or a president over the age of 72. Respondents identifying with the Democratic party, were asked for whom they originally voted for to be the party nominee: Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Economic topics addressed how concerned respondents were that they could maintain their current standard of living, the most difficult economic issue affecting their family, particularly personal finances, the stock market, and the ability to obtain bank loans. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, political party affiliation, voter registration status and participation history, political philosophy, education level, religious preference, military service, household income, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), home ownership and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

This poll, fielded January 13-16, 2009, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A national sample of 1,079 adults was surveyed, including an oversample of 204 African Americans. Opinions were sought on how well George W. Bush handled his job as president, how Dick Cheney handled his job as vice president, and whether things in the country were going in the right direction. Respondents were asked their opinions about how they thought President George Bush would go down in history, how newly elected Barack Obama handled his presidential transition, the level of confidence they had in President Obama and Congress to make decisions for the country's future, the expectations they had for Obama's performance as president, whether he got off to a good start in dealing with the economy, and the confidence level they had that President Obama's economic program would improve the economy. Views were sought on the kind of priority the president and Congress should give several issues including the economy, the situation in Iran, in Israel, and in Afghanistan, the federal budget deficit, education, global warming, health care, immigration issues, the United States campaign against terrorism, and taxes. Respondents were also asked questions about and the kind of priority that should be given to items that could be included in the economic stimulus plan such as upgrading schools with new technology, computerizing American medical records, extending unemployment insurance and health care coverage, and putting a moratorium on home mortgage foreclosures. Several questions addressed race relations and asked such things as whether Blacks in the community receive equal treatment, whether respondents felt they were ever denied housing or a job because of their race, and whether they felt they had ever been stopped by the police because of their race. Additional topics covered included respondents' personal finances, the war in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan, the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the treatment of terrorist suspects, embryonic stem cell research, and race relations. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, political party affiliation, political philosophy, religious preference, and household income.

This poll, the first of two fielded in January of 2013, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling foreign policy, the economy, the federal budget deficit, taxes, and his job as president. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of the way Democrats in Congress, and Republicans in Congress were handling their jobs. Respondents' opinions were solicited on whether things were going better than they were five years prior, their predictions about how the United States would be five years in the future, whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction, the condition of the national economy, and whether the economy was getting better. Opinions were also solicited on Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Harry Reid, the National Riffle Association, and gun control laws. Respondents were asked how confident they were in Barack Obama's ability to make the right decisions about the economy, Afghanistan, protecting the country, and illegal immigration. Questions were asked about Obama's second term in office including whether respondents were optimistic about the next four years with Barack Obama as president, what they wanted to see Obama accomplish in the next four years, and whether they expected the economy and the health care system to improve by the end of Obama's second term as president. Opinions on the federal budget deficit were collected including the best way to reduce it, which programs respondents would be willing to change in order to cut spending, and who respondents trusted more to make the right decisions about the deficit. Multiple questions addressed the topic of firearms including bans on semi-automatic weapons, high capacity magazines, and people other than law enforcement carrying concealed weapons. Additionally questions were asked regarding background checks on potential gun buyers, the creation of a national database to track gun sales, and gun violence prevention. Additional topics covered include personal finance, job security, and consumer attitudes. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, social class, employment status, religious preference and participation, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, household composition, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, and the number of phones in respondents' household.

The 2008 US presidential election was contested between Barack Obama of the Democratic Party, and John McCain of the Republican Party. This was the first election since 1952 where the incumbent president or vice president was not on the ballot, as President George W. Bush was not eligible to run for a third term, and Vice President Cheney chose not to run. The initial Democratic frontrunner was Hillary Clinton, however Barack Obama then moved ahead in the polls shortly before the Iowa caucus, where he won a surprising victory, before Clinton's victory in New Hampshire set off a competitive race between the two (Joe Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucus and joined the Obama campaign as his running mate). Following Super Tuesday, Obama and Clinton were neck-and-neck, but throughout the remaining primaries Obama gradually moved ahead and sealed the Democratic nomination in June 2008, making him the first African American to win the nomination of a major US party. Early in the Republican primaries, former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani led the polls, before Mitt Romney and John McCain also gained popularity by the time of the Iowa caucus. McCain then became the favorite following the New Hampshire primaries, with Giuliani dropping out and endorsing McCain before Super Tuesday, with Romney doing the same two days after the Tuesday primaries. McCain was eventually named as the Republican candidate, with widespread support across his party. No third party candidates made a significant impact on the election. Campaign The Iraq War was the main topic of debate early in the campaign, with Obama strongly against the war, while McCain supported the invasion and called for an increased security presence in the region. The age difference between the candidates also became an issue, as it had done in the 1996 campaign; and similarly to Clinton, Obama (47) avoided mentioning his opponent's age (72) directly, instead claiming that his politics and ideas were old fashioned, while McCain pointed to his experience, and appointed Sarah Palin as his running mate to combat these insinuations. Obama also proposed universal healthcare, setting in motion proposals for what would later be known as "Obamacare". The development of the financial crisis of 2008 then went on to dominate the election campaign, as the world faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. McCain refused to debate Obama until some progress had been made on the issue, and suspended his campaign in order to work on preventative measures in the Senate that would help the economy. McCain's actions in the Senate were then scrutinized heavily, and public perception was that he was not making a significant contribution to the proceedings. Results Obama won a convincing victory, and became the 44th President of the United states, and was the first African American to hold this position (this was also the first time in US history where neither the president nor vice president were white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants). Obama won approximately 53 percent of the popular vote, giving him a 68 percent share of the electoral vote. McCain received the remainder of the electoral votes, and took just under 56 percent of the popular votes, with the remainder of the popular votes split among various third party candidates. Much of Obama's success has been attributed to his energy and message of hope, particularly in the face of an economic crisis, while McCain was often seen as the continuation of President Bush's policies, whose popularity was at it's lowest ever levels. Obama won this election with the highest number of popular votes for a winning candidate in US history, receiving 3.4 million more votes than he received in 2012, and 6.3 million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016.

This special topic poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. In this poll, fielded January 11-15, 2009, respondents were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush handled his job as president, the situation with Iraq, the campaign against terrorism, and the economy during his eight years in office. Respondents were asked their opinions about Barack Obama, their predictions about what kind of president he was going to be, how confident respondents were in his abilities to make the right decisions about the economy and things relating to the war in Iraq, and whether respondents thought Obama was going to create new jobs, cut taxes, and improve the economy during his term as president. Several questions addressed Obama's Cabinet selections and whether his administration would make progress in providing affordable health care, ending the war in Iraq, and fixing the nation's economy. Respondents were also asked their opinions of Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, and Dick Cheney. Information about respondents' personal financial situation was also collected including the biggest financial concern facing them, how respondents rated their own financial state, how concerned they were about paying their housing costs, how much the decline in home values had affected them, whether their household income was enough to meet their bills and obligations, whether they felt secure about their household's financial future, whether they would be able to make payments on a large purchase, whether they have had to postpone making a major purchase due to the economy, and whether any long term plans have changed for them and their families as a result of the economy. Respondents were also polled on whether the country was going in the right direction, whether the condition of the economy was good, what they thought was the most important problem facing the country, and how they viewed the country compared to five years previously and five years into the future. Additional topics addressed stock market investments, job security, whether homosexuals should serve in the military, the economics stimulus package, the United States military prison in Guantanamo Bay, whether the United States should increase the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the legalization of marijuana, whether American or foreign automakers produced better quality vehicles, whether the federal government should provide national health insurance, whether there were more advantages to being a man or a woman in society, and whether respondents approved of premarital sex and homosexual relations. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, employment status, perceived social class, whether there were children under the age of 18 living with the respondent, whether respondents owned their home, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

This poll, fielded September 19-23, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency, the situations in Iraq and in Afghanistan, health care and the economy, whether they thought the country was on the right track, how they would rate the condition of the national economy and whether they thought the economy would get better. Respondents were also asked questions about the economic recession, whether they believed the stimulus package had made the economy better, whether the stimulus package would make the economy better in the future, and whether it was acceptable to raise the deficit to create jobs and stimulate growth. Several questions about health care were included that asked respondents how much change was needed in the health care system, how changes to the health care system would affect the Medicare program, whether they favored government administered health insurance plans, how satisfied they were with the quality of health care they were receiving, whether they were satisfied with their health care costs, whether they believed health care coverage could be increased without increasing the budget deficit, whether fixing the cost or providing coverage for the uninsured had the higher priority, and whether the respondent would consider public health care that anyone could join at any age. Other topics that were covered included, the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, respondents' opinion of Michelle Obama, how the federal government should use taxpayer's money, how the deficit should be handled, personal finances, and job security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, perceived social class, religious preference, whether the respondent considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and voter registration status and participation history.

This poll, fielded June 3-7, 2011, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, foreign policy, the economy, the situation with Afghanistan, the threat of terrorism, and the federal budget deficit. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of Congress, about the condition of the economy, and whether things in the country were on the right track. Opinions were sought on the severity of the federal budget deficit, overall approval of the Republican and Democratic parties, whether Barack Obama and the Republicans in Congress have spent enough time on important issues, the handling of the federal budget deficit by the Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and the United States' presence in Libya and Afghanistan. Multiple questions addressed the 2012 Republican presidential candidates including respondents' overall opinions of several of the candidates. Further questions asked for respondents' opinions on the debt ceiling debate, including the potential effects of reducing the deficit on the number of jobs, making changes to Medicare, Social Security, and increasing taxes, the probability of a stock market downturn if the debt ceiling was not raised, whether spending cuts should be included in talks of raising the debt ceiling, and whether the debate in Washington about the debt ceiling is mostly about honest disagreements about economic policy or political gain. Additional topics include health care law, Medicare, the regional job and housing markets, the respondents' selection of the most important issues, voter participation, as well as knowledge of and relationship to an individual killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, employment status, number of children, number of people in the household between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.

This poll, fielded January 6-10, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, the war in Afghanistan, health care, and the threat of terrorism. Respondents were queried on what they thought was the most important problem facing the United States, how they would rate the condition of the national economy, whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse, and whether they approved of the way that the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress were handling health care. Respondents were also asked whether they thought health care reform was going too far in trying to provide health insurance to as many Americans as possible, in trying to control cost, and in trying to regulate the health insurance industry. Information was collected on whether respondents' thought that Guantanamo Prison should continue to operate, whether they favored or opposed mandatory testing of students in public schools each year to determine how well the school is educating students, whether they thought students should be required to learn a foreign language in order to graduate from high school, and whether they thought that teachers in public schools were paid too much, too little, or just the right amount. Respondents were asked whether they had children that attended school, what type of school their children attended, what grade they would give to the quality of their children's education, whether they thought their children's education was better or worse than the education they received. Information was collected on how much respondents' children studied, whether they thought that it was important for their children's school curriculum to include arts, music and physical education, whether they thought that their children would attend college, and whether they thought that their children's school was properly preparing them for college. Respondents were also asked to rate the United States on its ability to protect the country from terrorist attacks, how likely they thought it was that there would be another terrorist attack in the United States within the next few months, whether they were afraid of flying, whether they thought that it was justified for people of certain racial or ethnic groups to be subjected to additional security checks at airports, and whether they thought that X-ray machines should be used to scan the bodies of travelers at airports. Finally respondents were asked a number of miscellaneous questions including what their New Year's resolution was, what their favorite season was, who they thought was the top athletic role model, who they thought was the most important American contributor to literature, what place and time period they would most like to return to, and how often they fly. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, military service, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.

This poll, fielded August 30 - September 02, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, the federal budget deficit, and the situation in Iraq. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of the way the United States Congress was doing its job, whether they trusted the Democrats or the Republicans to do a better job in coping with the nation's problems in future years, handling the economy, health care, immigration issues, the situation in Afghanistan, taxes, and the federal budget deficit. Multiple questions addressed the 2010 congressional elections including whether respondents would vote for the Democratic or the Republican House of Representatives candidate in their district if the election were held that day, whether they thought most Republicans and Democrats in Congress deserved to be re-elected, whether they planned to re-elect their representative in Congress, and what respondents considered the single most important issue pertaining to their congressional vote. Information was collected on respondents' opinions on Islam, whether respondents had a good understanding of the beliefs of Islam, whether respondents personally knew anyone who was Muslim, whether they had some feelings of prejudice against Muslims, and whether they supported the building of a Muslim community center near the former World Trade Center site. Additional opinions were solicited about President Obama, the Tea Party movement, the state of the nation's economy, the war in Iraq, respondents' feelings about the way the federal government works, and national security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians.

This poll, fielded March 18-21, 2011, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, foreign policy, and the federal budget deficit, whether they thought the country was headed in the right direction, and whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job. Respondents were queried on the condition of the national economy, who they thought was mostly to blame for the current state of the nation's economy, and how serious a problem they thought the federal budget deficit was for the country. Opinions were gathered on Social Security, Medicare, nuclear power, gasoline prices, the Islam religion, and terrorism. Respondents were also asked how likely they thought it was that a major earthquake will happen in the United States in the next 20 years, whether they thought the federal government was prepared to deal with a major earthquake, how closely they have been following the uprising in Libya, whether they consider themselves to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, whether they voted in the House of Representatives elections in 2010, whom they voted for in the 2008 presidential election, and how they would rate their current financial situation. Additional topics included same-sex marriage, the war in Afghanistan, the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, employment status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians.