Can we quit with the "popular president" schtick?
Here are the ratings for presidents as recorded by Gallup in the March following their re-election:
Truman, 1949: 57%.
Eisenhower, 1957: 65%.
Johnson, 1965: 69%.
Nixon, 1973: 57%.
Reagan, 1985: 56%.
Clinton, 1997: 59% .
Bush, 2005: 45%
There's a "mandate" for you. 11 points less popular than the next least popular president at this point in their term.