--- title: Obama's Approval Rating Cracks 50% description: After he sang 'Amazing Grace' on television and had a big week in the Supreme Court canonical: https://time.com/3941331/barack-obama-approval-rating-poll/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-30T14:36:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:44.085Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama's Approval Rating Cracks 50% og:description: After he sang 'Amazing Grace' on television and had a big week in the Supreme Court og:url: https://time.com/3941331/barack-obama-approval-rating-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff684237e676650a/6988592ae20a8705dba8c1a5/obama-approval-rating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: President Obama Joins Mourners At Funeral Of Rev. Clementa Pinckney og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama's Approval Rating Cracks 50% twitter:description: After he sang 'Amazing Grace' on television and had a big week in the Supreme Court twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff684237e676650a/6988592ae20a8705dba8c1a5/obama-approval-rating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama's Approval Rating Cracks 50% > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b6569ec4-a142-4dbc-9c28-6f202b804a8b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Hear Cornel West on Obama: ‘A Drone Presidency’ [Watch (HLS stream): Hear Cornel West on Obama: ‘A Drone Presidency’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aWv34iEW.m3u8) (0:42)  _Published 2014-10-06. In an interview with Time for 10 Questions, Cornel West says he didn’t even vote in 2012. “I couldn’t vote for a war criminal,” he said_  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 30, 2015 2:36 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers the eulogy for South Carolina state senator and Rev. Clementa Pinckney during Pinckney's funeral service on June 26, 2015 in Charleston, S.C. President Barack Obama delivers the eulogy for South Carolina state senator and Rev. Clementa Pinckney during Pinckney's funeral service on June 26, 2015 in Charleston, S.C. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 30, 2015 2:36 PM UTC President Barack Obama’s approval rating cracked 50% following a week of dramatic news events, marking the highest ratings for his presidency since 2013. A [CNN/ORC](http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/30/politics/obama-approval-rating-cnn-poll/index.html) poll found that 50% of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the presidency, after a week that included Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act, as well as several statements on race and an emotional eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was killed in the Charleston shooting. Obama rounded out the week by singing “Amazing Grace” on national television at Rev. Pinckney’s funeral Friday. The poll shows a significant jump since Obama’s 45% approval rating in May, and a dip in his disapproval rating, to 47%. This is the first time his approval rating has hit 50% since May 2013, and the second time his disapproval rating has fallen below 50% in that stretch of time. The breakdown on specific issues is also going Obama’s way. 52% said they approve of how Obama is handling the economy, which is the first time that particular metric has exceeded 50% in six years of CNN/ORC polling. 55% said they approve of how Obama is handling race relations, up from 50% in May. Yet there are still persistent challenges for Obama, especially on race. 74% of Americans say racial discrimination against black people is a serious problem in America, up from 47% five years ago– among African-American respondents, that number has jumped from 42% to 80%. And 42% of Americans think that race relations have gotten worse under Obama, compared to 20% who think they’ve gotten better. \[[CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/30/politics/obama-approval-rating-cnn-poll/index.html)\] ## Transcript You don't want the person like Obama to be viewed as somebody that he's not. He takes over this system and he cannot change it by himself. That's why it's not so much, just, it's not so much a, personal attack. It's a critique of the priorities that he had. He ended up with a Wall Street presidency, a drone presidency. A national surveillance presidency that violates rights and liberties vis- a- vis those dissenting voices. Four Americans assassinated, no due process, no accountability. You see, for me that's, that, that, that's movements toward a police state, toward a neo- fascist state. 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