WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is enjoying about a two-thirds approval rating for his first days as president, a poll released yesterday found.

The Gallup Organization survey found 68 percent of Americans approve of Obama's performance as the nation's chief executive. That's a number near the high end for new presidents, but short of President John F. Kennedy's 72 percent in 1961.

The poll also found that 12 percent in the survey disapprove of Obama's job performance, a typical number all presidents face after an election.

Among other presidents elected to their first term, Dwight Eisenhower had a 68 percent approval and Jimmy Carter 66 percent. Also, Richard Nixon had a 59 percent rating; Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush got 51 percent; Bill Clinton 58 percent and George W. Bush 57 percent.

Compared with his immediate predecessors, Obama faces fewer Americans who disapprove of his performance. Clinton faced 20 percent disapproval after taking office in 1993, and George W. Bush faced 25 percent disapproval after the Supreme Court delivered him the presidency in 2000.

Obama was sworn in Tuesday. Gallup conducted telephone interviews of 1,591 adults Wednesday to Friday, which cover his first three days in office. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.