Many Americans have trouble recalling who was president during major events that happened in the past 25 years, though there are some particularly memorable exceptions — especially the September 11 terrorist attacks and the passage of the Affordable Care Act. A new YouGov survey asked Americans to recall which of the last four presidents were in office when 20 events occurred — through Biden's presidency. The results show that overall accuracy is similar between Democrats and Republicans, but each group is more likely to recall the sitting president for events when that reflects well on their preferred political party. For Americans overall, recency isn't much help — major events during Biden's presidency aren't particularly likely to be remembered accurately.
The largest share of Americans to correctly recall who was president during any of the 20 events included in the survey are the 87% who recall that the September 11 terrorist attacks took place when George W. Bush was president. Smaller majorities also accurately say Bush was president during the start of the war in Afghanistan (65%) and Hurricane Katrina (58%). 40% are aware that the Great Recession started under Bush, and only 25% know that Bush passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bank bailout.
Under Barack Obama's presidency, a large majority (80%) of Americans are aware that the Affordable Care Act was passed, and smaller majorities know state that Obama was president when Osama bin Laden was killed (66%) and same-sex marriage was legalized (61%). Less than half know that it was under Obama's presidency that militants attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi (41%) or that Flint experienced its water crisis (34%).
70% of Americans are aware that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol occurred while Donald Trump was in office — the question did not include the year in the attack's date — and 63% remember Trump was president when the first COVID-19 vaccine was introduced. Smaller shares correctly recollect that while Trump was president, George Floyd was killed (45%), data collection for the 2020 Census took place (44%), and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed (35%). Significant shares incorrectly think that events during Trump's presidency happened during Biden's, including 2020 Census data collection (27% say it took place under Biden, and this one did include the year), the introduction of the first COVID vaccine (26%), Floyd's killing (22%), and the January 6 attack (19%).
65% accurately say Russia invaded Ukraine during Joe Biden's presidency and roughly half (51%) correctly say Biden was the president who withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Smaller shares of Americans correctly say Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act (41%) or appointed the first Black woman to the Supreme Court (38%). Far more incorrectly say Roe v. Wade was overturned during Trump's presidency than say it happened with Biden in the White House (47% vs. 27%).
On average, Democrats and Republicans are roughly equally likely to accurately recall which president was in office when the 20 events occurred (56% vs. 54%). But for certain specific events, Democrats' and Republicans' level of accuracy varies significantly.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to correctly identify who was president during bin Laden's killing (24 percentage points more likely), 2020 Census data collection (+20), the start of the Great Recession (+15), Floyd's killing (+14), Hurricane Katrina (+12), and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (+10). Around one in five Republicans incorrectly state that Hurricane Katrina (21%) occurred when Obama was president rather than Bush and a similar proportion (20%) say the same about the Great Recession. 29% of Republicans inaccurately say Floyd's killing took place when Biden was president, and 22% say the January 6 attack happened under Trump. About as many Republicans falsely say 2020 Census data collection occurred during Biden's administration as say it happened during Trump's (33% vs. 36%).
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to accurately name the president who oversaw the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (+21), the Russian invasion of Ukraine (+17), the introduction of the first COVID-19 vaccine (+16), the Benghazi attack (+12), and the withdrawal from Afghanistan (+10). About half (48%) of Democrats inaccurately say Roe v. Wade was overturned during Trump's presidency, and 28% think Trump was president when Russia invaded Ukraine. One-third of Democrats (33%) incorrectly say Biden, not Trump, was president when the first COVID vaccine was introduced.
Younger American adults – especially those under 30 — are, on average, less likely than older adults to recall who was president during recent major events. Many — though not all — of the events that younger adults are less likely to place in the correct presidency happened in the more distant recent past, under Bush or Obama. Some of these include the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the start of the war in Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and the Benghazi attack. Younger adults are also less likely than older Americans to correctly say who was president during the Afghanistan withdrawal, the January 6 attack, and the introduction of the first COVID vaccine.
Younger American adults have better memories of who was the president during a few events. Nearly twice as many adults under 30 say that the Flint water crisis took place under Obama as do people 65 and older (44% vs. 24%). Adults under 30 are also somewhat more likely than people 65 and older to correctly say who was president when Floyd was killed and when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
— Carl Bialik and David Montgomery contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 2,177 U.S. adult citizens on two separate 2025 surveys from October 9 - 11 and October 10 - 14. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty
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