The Graphic Truth: US presidents' midterm pain

The Graphic Truth: US presidents' midterm pain: presidential approval ratings after one year in US history
Ari Winkleman

Things aren't looking good for Joe Biden. And it could get worse for him a year from now, when the Democratic Party could lose control of the US Congress in the 2022 midterm election. But this dynamic isn't unique to the Biden administration. Historically, in the president's first term his party has almost always lost seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterms. What's more, the president's own approval rating also tends to take a hit as the vote nears. We compare the approval ratings of the last 10 US presidents one year before the midterm election and on the eve of the vote, as well as the number of House/Senate seats lost/won by the party in the White House at the time.

Want to get more of these graphics in your inbox? Sign up for our daily newsletter Signal here.

More from GZERO Media

A damaged portion of Bilal Mosque is seen after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on May 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Akhtar Somroo

India early on Wednesday bombed what it said were nine militant sites within Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, reportedly killing at least 26 people in the worst clash between the two countries in decades.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 6, 2025.
REUTERS/Leah Millis

What does Donald Trump want most from Canada? “Friendship,” he said during his meeting Tuesday with newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney. But while their IRL encounter was civil enough, don’t expect matching friendship bracelets any time soon.

The new Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) speaks during the handover of office in the Chancellery, May 6, 2025.
Reuters

The Conservative leader lost the first vote but won the second. His prize? Taking the reins of a Germany that faces its most serious combination of economic, security, and political challenges since 1989.

UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds meets Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal for trade talks, in London, United Kingdom, on April 28, 2025.

Department for Business and Trade/Handout via REUTERS

The United Kingdom on Tuesday sealed its largest trade deal since leaving the European Union, inking a pact with India in a big political win for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Across America, Walmart is supporting communities by working with small businesses, like beyondGREEN, in San Antonio, TX. Since becoming a Walmart supplier in 2023, the Texas-based company built a new factory and hired over 100 employees. Across the country, Walmart’s $350 billion investment in products made, grown, or assembled in America supports the creation of over 750,000 US jobs. Learn how Walmart’s investment in US manufacturing helps small businesses grow.

Quantum technology offers the next frontier of innovation. As the global race for quantum technology intensifies, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith highlights the need for the United States to harness its heritage of scientific innovation and outlines three strategic actions to ensure American quantum leadership. These actions include increasing government-funded quantum research, developing a skilled quantum workforce, and securing the quantum supply chain. Learn more here.