Foreign public sentiment
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Beloved across Allied populations; Eleanor Roosevelt international travels reinforced. UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948) bore Roosevelt fingerprints internationally.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
FDR-Roosevelt branding extended internationally via Eleanor's postwar UN work, cementing US soft-power leadership.
Eleanor Roosevelt's 1948-1952 UN diplomacy on Universal Declaration of Human Rights; contemporary foreign press
Beloved internationally. Berlin and Latin American Alliance for Progress soft power. Global mourning at assassination.
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- good·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Kennedy's death produced unprecedented international mourning; foreign-public sentiment was extraordinarily favorable to Kennedy personally.
International press coverage of Kennedy assassination November 1963
Strong globally. Obama himself extremely popular internationally. Anti-Americanism declined substantially in allied populations.
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- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Obama personally polled extremely favorably globally throughout term; foreign-public sentiment toward US substantially improved from GW Bush era.
pewresearch.org ↗
Strongly favorable globally. Gulf War coalition reflected broad international support. Tienanmen response controversial.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign-public-sentiment toward US under Bush 41 was extraordinarily favorable globally; Tienanmen Square response was notable exception.
International polling 1989-1993; Tienanmen response criticism
Strong globally. Lewinsky scandal more amusing than damaging internationally. NATO expansion popular in new members; resented in Russia.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign public sentiment toward US under Clinton was strongly favorable globally outside of select adversary nations.
Late-1990s international polling on US
Western Europe favorable; postcolonial world mixed (China 'loss' contested in Asia); Soviet bloc adversarial.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign-public-opinion data for Truman era is limited but available USIS surveys show favorable Western European reception, mixed elsewhere.
USIS public-opinion surveys 1948-1953
Strong human-rights framing earned international respect. Iran specifically hostile. Mixed elsewhere.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Carter's human-rights diplomacy earned international respect particularly in Latin America transitions; counterbalanced by Iran crisis.
Carter human rights framework reception
Strong in UK, West Germany, Japan. Hostile in Central America, parts of Middle East (post-Beirut, Iran-Contra). Mixed in non-aligned world.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign public sentiment under Reagan varied by region: highly favorable in NATO Western Europe, sharply hostile in Latin American countries affected by US intervention.
USIA surveys 1981-1989
Strong in Western Europe (Marshall Plan legacy carrying forward). Mixed in developing world. Negative in Iran, Guatemala, post-coup regions. Soviet bloc adversarial.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign-public-opinion data shows continued favorable Western European reception, declining perceptions in coup-target regions.
USIA International Audience Research records 1953-1961
Restored in allied populations. Continued hostile in adversary populations. Israel-Hamas damaged in Muslim-majority and Global South populations.
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- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Foreign-public sentiment toward US under Biden rebounded substantially in allied populations; Israel-Hamas war produced declining favorability in Global South 2023-2024.
pewresearch.org ↗
Allied relations restored. Vietnam-era hostility continued in much of world.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign public sentiment toward US under Ford modestly improved from Vietnam-era lows.
USIA international polling 1975-1976
Mixed. Strong with China and partial USSR. Hostile in Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, post-Allende Chile. Watergate damaged credibility internationally.
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- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign public sentiment varied by region during Nixon years; Watergate broadly damaged US credibility as 'shining city on a hill.'
USIS surveys 1969-1974; international press coverage of Watergate
Strongly negative globally during Vietnam War. European public anti-war. Civil rights legacy positive but overshadowed.
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- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Foreign-public sentiment toward US deteriorated sharply during LBJ term, with Vietnam War the principal driver across Western European and global publics.
Pew Research historical international polling; USIA surveys 1965-1968
Devastating decline globally. Anti-Bush sentiment widespread in allied populations. Muslim-world hostility peaked. PEPFAR-recipient countries one exception.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Foreign-public sentiment toward US under GW Bush reached postwar lows in most allied and most non-allied countries; PEPFAR-recipient African countries were notable exception.
pewresearch.org ↗
Trump personally polled very unfavorably globally. Anti-American sentiment grew in allied populations. Notable exceptions: Israel, some Eastern European, India.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Trump personal favorability across surveyed countries averaged ~22% per Pew — among lowest measured for any US president; allied-population sentiment particularly negative.
pewresearch.org ↗
Damaged severely in allied populations. Canada hostility unprecedented. Mexico hostility from tariffs/threats. European populations strongly negative.
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- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Trump T2 produced unprecedented declines in foreign-public sentiment toward US in allied populations; Canadian and European anti-US sentiment particularly notable.
International polling 2025 on Trump T2