Boomers Hail Reagan While Millennials Choose Obama as Best President of Their Lifetime
Vandana Rambaran /
Four in 10 baby boomers and Americans from the silent generation chose former President Ronald Reagan as the best president of their lifetime, while 62 percent of millennials hailed former President Barack Obama as either the best or second best of their lifetime, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center on Wednesday.
The results of the poll, which was conducted from June 5 to 12 among a population of 2,002 adults, suggest that the best president in a person’s lifetime is dependent on their age.
Older voters in Generation X, who are 38 to 53 years old; boomers, who are 54 to 72 years old; and silent generation voters, who are 73 to 90 years old; all chose Reagan as their favorite president. He was in office before millennials were born, explaining why only 13 percent of the younger generation between the ages of 22-37 chose him as a favorite of their lifetime.
Still, older generations also favored Obama considerably, with boomers voting for him 19 percent of the time and the silent generation 11 percent of the time.
Former President John F. Kennedy was another popular pick for boomers and silent generation, who were both alive during his presidency and each voted 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively, for him as their favorite.
Overall, Obama was the first-pick choice for 31 percent of voters, leading Reagan, who had 21 percent of votes, and former President Bill Clinton, who had 13 percent of votes.
Even though President Donald Trump has only been in office for less than half of his term, 19 percent of voters said he has done the best or second best job of any president of their lifetimes, similar to Obama, who had 20 percent of votes in 2011.
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