High Wire Act

Shortly after President Kennedy's eloquent inaugural, the Gallup poll found that 69% of the U.S. liked the way he was beginning his new job. His popularity soared to a high of 83* in the rally-roundthe-flag spirit that immediately followed the Bay of Pigs fiasco that April, sagged to 71 by July, climbed again in the atmosphere of crisis over Berlin to a second peak of 79 last March. But since Kennedy's celebrated tangle with Big Steel and the Blue Monday that followed, his popularity has slipped. The latest Gallup poll found him back where he started: 69% of those questioned thought he was doing a good job.

* Higher than Eisenhower's peaks of 79 (Geneva summit, 1955, and second inauguration, 1957); almost even with F.D.R.'s high of 84 (January 1942, after the U.S. declared war); four points below Harry Truman's record of 87 (just after Roosevelt's death in 1945).

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