Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump: Comparing first 100 days of last six presidents
The first 100 days have been rocky for other modern presidents, but none had as bumpy a ride as Donald Trump has encountered during his opening days in office. Here's a look back.
Donald Trump (2017)
Approval rating: 43%*
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 24/22*
Major successes: Neil Gorsuch confirmed for Supreme Court; some Obama-era regulations repealed
Major setbacks: Proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act withdrawn from House; immigration orders blocked by federal courts; national security adviser Michael Flynn forced to resign
Of note: FBI confirmed investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian meddling in election
Barack Obama (2009)
Approval rating: 65%
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 190/69
Major successes: Stimulus bill passed; children's health care expanded; equal-pay protections bolstered; federal ban on embryonic stem-cell research lifted
Major setbacks: Nominee for key role of Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Daschle, forced to withdraw
Of note: Stock market bottomed out in March, a sign that the end of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression was in sight
George W. Bush (2001)
Approval rating: 62%
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 85/35
Major successes: House passed tax proposal, eventually signed in June, to slash income tax rates
Major setbacks: Failed to act on a blue-ribbon commission report urging changes in homeland security or on warning signs before the terror attacks on New York and Washington that would follow in September
Of note: U.S. spy plane flying over the South China Sea clipped by Chinese fighter jet and forced to land on Chinese soil
Bill Clinton (1993)
Approval rating: 55%
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 176/49
Major successes: Family and Medical Leave Act signed
Major setbacks: Furors over gays in the military, firing of White House travel office staffers
Of note: Hillary Rodham Clinton put in charge of signature health care overhaul, which eventually would fail.
George H.W. Bush (1989)
Approval rating: 56%
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 95/50
Major successes: Submitted plan to bail out troubled savings and loans, eventually signed in August
Major setbacks: Nominee for Defense secretary, Texas Sen. John Tower, rejected by Senate
Of note: Worst oil spill on U.S. territory in history when Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground in Alaska
Ronald Reagan (1981)
Approval rating: 68%
Nominees formally submitted/confirmed by Senate: 128/80
Major successes: Proposed major cuts in taxes and domestic spending and an increase in military spending; Iran released U.S. hostages as he was inaugurated
Major setbacks: Fragility in the economy, which would head into recession in July
Of note: Survived assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.
Sources: Gallup Poll; Partnership for Public Service; USA TODAY research by Susan Page
*As of April 21
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