 almost died and although people really didn't know how serious it was for quite some time but they knew he'd been hit and it was pretty serious he's laughing at it and that really like formed a bond between him and the american public yes his approval ratings went up and then down up and down like all presidents but there was this like low-level bond like oh we're not happy with the job he did but we liked him kind of thing which i think sustained him and helped him at many key moments his presidency