When a candidate is seeking election or re-election, voters often turn to previous years of service to look for guidance on performance. The same can be said of candidates running for president of the United States.
During a nationally televised interview, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spoke about her years at the U.S. State Department hoping to win over voters.
She said, “When I was Secretary of State, I had a very high approval rating.”
PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a TRUE rating.
Writer Josh Gillin said Clinton has been in public life for many years meaning she’s been polled regularly, and the numbers have not always been kind. He noted her approval rating was in the 30s just after becoming the First Lady of the United States. Those numbers were attributed to the fact Americans really hadn’t gotten to know her yet.
“That’s not the case come 2009 when she’s appointed Secretary of State,” Gillin said. “And then we’re seeing numbers up 65 percent approval rating. By the time you get to 2011, 2012 … it bumps up a little to 66 percent. That made her more popular than both Barack Obama and Joe Biden at the time.”
For that reason, Clinton’s claim received a TRUE rating on the PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Clinton had high approval rating as Sec. of State?
- NBC News, "Clinton's Lead Over Trump Shrinks to 3 Points: New NBC News/WSJ Poll," May 22, 2016
- Gallup, "Hillary Clinton Favorable Near Her All-Time High," March 30, 2011, "Hillary Clinton's Favorable Rating One of Her Worst," Sept. 4, 2015, and "Presidential Job Approval Center," "Key Statistics" tab
- Email, Josh Schwerin, spokesman, Hillary Clinton campaign, May 22, 2016
- The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton reaches new heights of political popularity," Jan. 23, 2013
- Pew Research Center, "Hillary Clinton Favorability Timeline," May 19, 2016
- The Huffington Post, "Hillary Clinton Favorable Rating," updated May 22, 2016
See how PolitiFact ranks Clinton in other areas.