Approval ratings for Obama among most polarized: Gallup

U.S. President Barack Obama's sixth year in office shows a whopping 70-point gap between those who approve of the president and those who disapprove, the most polarized one for a president in Gallup's polling history

An average of 79 percent of Democrats, compared with 9 percent of Republicans, approved of the job he was doing, and that cavernous divide ties for the fifth most polarized year for a president in Gallup records dating back to 1953, a Gallup poll released Friday found.

Each of Obama's six years in office ranks among the 10 most polarized in the last 60 years, with former president George W. Bush holding the other four spots.

Bush's most polarized years were his fourth through seventh years in office, after the rally in support for him following the Sept. 11 terror attacks had faded.

Clearly, political polarization has reached new heights in recent years, under a Republican and a Democratic president, Gallup found.

Bush's and Obama's approval ratings were most polarized along party lines in their fourth years in office -- which has been the case for most presidents because that is the year they seek re-election.

Both Bush and Obama saw their polarization scores ease slightly in their fifth year, and go down a bit more in year six. Bush's polarization score dropped even further in his seventh year, as his overall job approval ratings continued to decline, according to Gallup.

Job approval in Obama's and Bush's sixth years in office was remarkably similar -- with 79 percent approval among supporters of the president's party, and 9 percent from supporters of the opposition party.

Bush and Obama had by far the most polarized sixth years for presidents who served into a sixth year. In Bill Clinton's sixth year, there was an average 53-point gap in his approval ratings, Gallup found. Endi