NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As President Obama continues to deal with a number of crises, criticism over his vacation and his job ratings also continue to drift downward. This month, almost one-third of Americans (32%) give the President positive ratings for the overall job he is doing, while almost seven in ten (68%) give him negative ratings. This is down from last month, when 34% gave him positive ratings and 66% gave him negative marks; this is the second time this year (January being the other) that his ratings have been this low.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,537 adults surveyed online between August 13 and 18, 2014. (Full results, including data tables, available here)

After hitting a "high" mark for the past two years in June with a positive rating of 10%, Congress also drifts downward. Last month 9% of Americans gave them positive ratings and this month 8% do so, while 92% of Americans give them negative marks on the overall job they are doing. Looking at the country as a whole, one-third of Americans (32%) say things are going in the right direction in the country, while almost seven in ten (68%) say things have gotten off on the wrong track. Last month, three in ten (31%) said things were going in the right direction, while seven in ten (69%) said things were going off on the wrong track.

If Washington was like a high school yearbook

As kids around the country go back to school, it is interesting to look at some visible politicians in Washington and around the country and harken back to those high school yearbook lists. There was that one person who was class clown and another who was voted most likely to be President. Well, when given a list of 12 politicians, here is how Americans would vote (top two for each category shown):

• Class Clown: Joe Biden (21%) and Chris Christie (14%)
• Most Likely to Succeed: Hillary Clinton (15%) and Chris Christie/Rand Paul/Elizabeth Warren (7%)
• Teacher's Pet: Joe Biden/Nancy Pelosi/Hillary Clinton (9%) and Harry Reid (7%)
• Best Hair: Marco Rubio/Elizabeth Warren (8%) and Nancy Pelosi (7%)
• Most Likely to be President: Hillary Clinton (34%) and Chris Christie/Marco Rubio (6%)
• Most Annoying: Nancy Pelosi (19%) and John Boehner (11%)
• Most Popular: Hillary Clinton (13%) and Chris Christie (9%)

Presidents as High School Teachers

While many U.S. Presidents taught law and at the college level, John Adams, Millard Fillmore, James Garfield and Chester Arthur taught at the primary and secondary levels as well. So, what if recent U.S. Presidents were high school teachers? Are there ones people wish they could have had as a teacher and ones they never would have wanted to have? Over one-third of Americans (37%) say they wish they could have had Ronald Reagan as a teacher, while one-quarter (26%) wish they could have had Bill Clinton. Just over one in ten wish they could have had Barack Obama (13%) and Jimmy Carter (12%), while under one in ten wish they could have had George H.W. Bush (6%) and George W. Bush (5%).

On the other side, two in five Americans (40%) say they would never want to have had Barack Obama as a teacher, while three in ten (30%) say they same about George W. Bush. One in ten (10%) say they would not have wanted to have George H.W. Bush as a teacher, while less than one in ten say that about Ronald Reagan (7%), Jimmy Carter (7%) and Bill Clinton (6%).

To see how all the politicians stacked up for the high school yearbook questions as well as other recent Harris Polls, please visit the Harris Poll News Room.

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Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United Statesbetween August 13 and 18, 2014 among 2,537 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll.

The Harris Poll^®#80, August 25, 2014
By Regina A. Corso, VP, The Harris Poll and Public Relations Research

About Nielsen & The Harris Poll

On February 3, 2014, Nielsen acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll.  Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

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SOURCE The Harris Poll