THE TIMES POLL : Americans Rate Reagan as an Average President : Legacy: His job performance is still viewed positively. However, the overall impression of him has slipped.

Nearly three years after leaving the Oval Office, the man many considered the most successful U.S. politician of his era is regarded as no better than average by the American public, The Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

People still rate Ronald Reagan’s job performance positively, but not overwhelmingly so. And as the “great communicator” has slipped from public view, the public’s overall impression of him also has slipped.

In fact, people are closely divided over whether they and the nation are better or worse off because of the 40th President’s policies, the poll showed.

Although Reagan won two electoral vote landslides, skillfully persuaded a politically divided Congress to pass his controversial “Reaganomics” domestic program cuts coupled with a massive defense buildup, led the nation from inflation through recession into prosperity and was the commander-in-chief as America began wrapping up victory in the Cold War, those interviewed ranked him only in the middle of the pack of U.S. presidents.

Twenty-eight percent considered him “above average” (including 8% who acclaimed him “one of the best”) and 33% thought he was “below average” (including 15% who pronounced him “one of the worst.”) Thirty-nine percent said he was just average.

Reagan’s $57-million, mission-style presidential library will be dedicated on an ocean-view hilltop near Simi Valley today, a historic event highlighted by the presence of President Bush and, if all goes as planned, four former presidents: Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter and Reagan. Carter was in Zambia last week to monitor elections there, but Reagan aides say he plans to attend.

When The Times Poll asked people which of these former presidents they would like to spend some time with, the nod went to Carter, the lone Democrat, whom Reagan ousted from office in an electoral vote landslide 11 years ago. Thirty-five percent chose Carter, 22% Reagan, 20% Nixon and 10% Ford.

Blacks particularly wanted to chat with Carter--57% of them. “I think he would give me some real insights into the political processes in this country without hedging,” said Jamal Davis, 29, of Baltimore, Md., a black mental health counselor who was interviewed separately by a Times reporter. “I think he was a good President, a real humanitarian of sorts.”

Young people, who were among Reagan’s biggest fans when he occupied the White House, especially desired to spend time with the 80-year-old conservative Republican. “I’d probably ask him all kinds of questions about why he made the decisions he did, particularly about Iran and why his declaration to the unborn went nowhere,” said Beth Wharton, 23, a Wichita, Kan., welder who opposes abortion. “He was a pretty fair President.”

“Average” President was, on balance, the opinion of the 1,623 adults interviewed by The Times Poll. The nationwide telephone survey was conducted Sept. 21-25, with a margin of error of three percentage points in either direction.

As with most questions about Reagan, there was a substantial difference between the attitudes of men and women, young and old, white and black, and the affluent and poor--not to mention conservatives and liberals. The former in each case tended to be much more pro-Reagan than the latter.

Reagan still polarizes the public. And the age gap is especially intriguing. Sixty-five percent of people age 18 to 25 approved of the way Reagan handled his job as President--32% approving “strongly.” At the other end of the generation span, only 39% of those age 65 and over approved of Reagan’s job performance; 56% disapproved, 34% “strongly.”

Brad Covington, 24, an artist for a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, newspaper, said: “I like his roots, his background. He’s a common guy who worked his way up. He wasn’t born into money, like the Kennedys and Bush. I also liked his policy with the Soviet Union. He’s a tough old bird, but he met with (Mikhail) Gorbachev. They both grew up in small towns and talked to each other like human beings. . . . Star Wars? I was against that at the time, but I’m glad we have it now.”

But Emma Hurd, 74, a black retired housekeeper from Chicago, said: “There didn’t seem to be anything done for the poor people (by Reagan). He left the office in a mess, with all these homeless. . . . The whites are suffering as well as the blacks. Being able to work and being able to find work are two different things.”

Among everyone interviewed, 52% approved and 44% disapproved of the way Reagan handled his job. This was a slight slip from his job rating just before leaving office, as measured by The Times Poll in September, 1988. Reagan’s average job rating during his two terms as President was 57% approval, and 36% disapproval, according to many Times surveys.

More telling, the public’s overall impression of Reagan has dropped somewhat in the nearly three years that the former actor has been off television and largely out of the newspapers, except for reports generated by books about his presidency, not all of them flattering.

Now, the public’s overall impression of the man--55% favorable, 44% unfavorable--closely resembles his job rating. The impression question is designed as a measurement of general popularity, while the job rating presumably reflects more what people think of an officeholder’s programs and policies. When he occupied the Oval Office, Reagan always seemed to be more popular than his policies; just before leaving, the public’s impression of him was 63% favorable, 33% unfavorable.

“He alienated a lot of people, but always maintained a solid corps of supporters,” Times Poll Director John Brennan said. “He took hits during the ’82 recession and the Iran-Contra scandal, but he was resilient and recovered from them. Unlike Nixon and Carter, he was able to leave office without the public turning against him.

“And even though Reagan is no longer President, he is not totally history. The Bush Administration in many ways is a continuation of Reagan’s. And people still may be evaluating Reagan based on what Bush is doing.”

This also may work in reverse, the pollster said: “Reagan may be acting as a lightning rod for Bush and helping him.” Brennan pointed out that The Times Poll asked people last January whom they blamed for the economic situation, and the most frequent reply was “the Reagan Administration.” Forty percent faulted the last President, while only 5% blamed Bush. Congress was blamed by 19%.

Reagan always has been graded higher for his foreign policy than for his domestic programs and still is. In this survey, people approved of Reagan’s record in foreign affairs--58% compared to 36%. But they were almost evenly divided over the way he “handled problems here at home,” with 48% approving and 47% disapproving.

“Republicans always are for across the water--for foreign countries--like Bush is now,” said Emma Hurd, echoing a common complaint of Democrats. “I don’t understand why they want other countries to flourish and don’t take a good look at their own country.”

Compounding this image problem for Reagan is that Americans continue to think of him as a President of the rich. Asked whether they believed Reagan cared more for the poor or middle-income people or the rich, 61% of those interviewed replied “the rich.” Only 7% said middle-income or poor, with 26% believing he cared equally for all economic groups.

More than three-fourths of blacks thought Reagan favored the rich. “He cut lots of programs and was basically just for the rich, the upper class,” said Carla Bailey, 29, who recently moved from Washington to Los Angeles, where her husband is a struggling actor and writer. “I don’t see anything in this country that’s improved because he was in office.”

Americans clearly are split on that issue. Paraphrasing a famous question that Reagan asked voters to ask themselves about the Carter presidency during the 1980 election campaign, The Times Poll queried people whether they personally are better or worse off now because of the Reagan years. The majority--53%--said they are about the same. The rest were about equally divided between “better” and “worse.”

However, back in late 1983, three years after his election as the nation was recovering from recession, the majority--52%--felt they were better off under Reagan, according to a Times poll.

Groups that tend to feel they are personally better off today because of Reagan include higher-income people--those making more than $60,000--and men generally. Blacks complain that they are worse off.

Americans also are divided about equally over whether the nation as a whole benefited from the Reagan presidency. Twenty-eight percent said it is better off, 30% believe it is worse off and 38% think it is about the same.

Reagan was not given much credit by most people for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, a development many of his faithful followers consider a crowning legacy.

Nearly two-thirds of those interviewed gave him “only some” or “very little” credit for the Soviet bloc’s demise, while just one-quarter attributed to him a “good amount” or “most” of the credit. Again, young people and men ranked him higher than other age groups and women.

Most people--56%--said they “trusted” Reagan when he was President. But 40% did not. He was somewhat more trusted near the mid-mark in his presidency, based on earlier Times surveys.

“I didn’t trust him at all,” said Louise Record, 69, a Paducah, Ky., housewife. “I didn’t believe him when he said he didn’t know anything about the Iran-Contra thing. He stood before the country and told a big story. I thought, well, if you don’t know about it, you’re one dumb fellow.”

But George Cote, 64, of Costa Mesa said: “I liked him as a governor and I liked him as President. He did a pretty good job, especially for a class B movie actor.

“Reagan didn’t do anything absolutely outstanding or brilliant or wonderful, except he kept kind of an even keel. The fellow came off as being sort of middle America. He never got presumptuous; didn’t come off as a real jerk.”

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 1,623 adult Americans nationwide by telephone Sept. 21 to 25. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list that includes all telephone exchanges in the United States. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and unlisted telephone numbers had an opportunity to be contacted. Oversampling of blacks and Latinos provided larger-sized subsamples for analysis, which were weighted to their proper proportions in the nationwide sample. Results were adjusted slightly to conform with census figures on variables such as sex, race and national origin, age, education and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is plus or minus three percentage points. For certain subgroups the error margin is somewhat higher.

The Times Poll

The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 1,623 adults nationwide.

Q. Compared to all U.S. presidents, how would you rank Ronald Reagan?

Best: 8%

Above average: 20%

Average: 39%

Below Average: 18%

Worst: 15%

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll