Tuesday is the 273rd day since Barack Obama stepped away from the presidency, and Donald Trump assumed office. The number 273 holds very little meaning to most people. To some, though, it is known as the number for “absolute zero” when preceded by a negative sign, two-hundred seventy-three degrees below the freezing point for water in the Celsius scale on a standard thermometer.

In a way, absolute zero is precisely what we have with the Trump presidency. The administration has shown it is incapable of being level-headed, of producing legislative goals compatible with the will of the nation, or of even condemning hatred and bigotry in an acceptable manner. Absolute zero is where many Americans would rate this administration, and with plenty of good reasons.

The number 273 has another meaning: Tuesday is the 273r day in which President Trump has officially served as president, and marks the first three-quarters of his first year in office. And while that isn’t exactly an anniversary that many people recognize, it is a moment in time we should examine.

Three-quarters of a year ago, roughly half of the American people determined, despite a majority of us voting against him, to give Donald Trump a fair shot. Polling reflects this notion: three days into his tenure, an aggregate of polls showed an average approval rating of 45 percent for the real estate mogul with no political experience. Conversely, those same polls, on average, gave him a 41 percent disapproval rating, according to the aggregate calculated by FiveThirtyEight.com.

So while a good chunk of the nation didn’t like Trump already, most had made the decision to recognize he was the president, and to afford him the decency of a fair chance to prove himself worthy.

My, how times have changed.

After refusing to temper his ego on social media, after attempting to roll back protections for the LGBTQ community, after offering a tax proposal that will lower his taxes but possibly raise those on the working class, after creating executive orders that attempted to prevent otherwise peaceful individuals into the country, after getting into a rhetorical battle of words (and walls) with Mexico, after dividing the nation over the issue of what type of free speech protests are acceptable, after bringing us closer to nuclear conflict than we’ve been in the past thirty years, and after suggesting that some neo-Nazis are actually “fine people,” it seems the American people are, for the most part, fed up with this president.

(Oh, and he also stared at the solar eclipse.)

The latest Gallup Daily Poll, released on Monday, October 8, shows that only 37 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s performance as president. Meanwhile, 56 percent say he’s done a bad job so far.

Another poll from PBS NewsHour/Marist shows that the American people are not confident in Trump’s leadership to prevent or manage a global crisis, with almost six-in-ten saying he wouldn’t be able to do so.

And who can blame them? Citing all of the reasons above, and then some, this president has proven he is incapable of managing the needs of the nation. His own vanity comes first, evident in a tweet he made this week commending himself on managing the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, even as the island territory still remains in the dark and two-in-five residents don’t have potable water.

Nobody could have done what I’ve done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work! pic.twitter.com/k2jAkIpfjI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017

His own staff is frustrated with his management style. It’s evident on the face of his chief of staff, who is seen holding his head in his hands when Trump goes off-script. It’s evident in the comments from his secretary of State, who reportedly called him a “moron” following a national security meeting in July. And it’s evident in the number of leaks themselves escaping the White House, detailing just how dysfunctional the Trump administration really is.

America deserves much, much better than this. When we consider how much this nation has achieved in its history, and compare it to what we’ve seen in just the past nine months of this administration, it’s clear that we’re witnessing one of the worst presidencies in the 228-year history of this Constitutional government.

It’s no exaggeration to describe this president as an “absolute zero.” Whenever his tenure is finished — whether in 2020, or sooner — his leadership will have likely resulted in no forward momentum, in taking this nation toward a positive progression. In all likelihood, in fact, we’ll have moved backwards, thanks to President Donald Trump. And his departure will similarly be celebrated.

Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0