Whether Obama's approval ratings qualify as ordinary or extraordinary depend on the point of comparison. It is not particularly surprising that Obama's approval significantly exceeds that of Bill Clinton, who won a three-way election with only about 43 percent of the popular vote, or George W. Bush, who won in the most controversial fashion imaginable after the Bush v. Gore decision.

In comparison with Ronald Reagan, however, Obama's approval is quite a bit more impressive. Indeed, it is hard to mount a credible argument that Reagan began his term with more political capital than Obama: