With seven days left until he surrenders power, Bush will have to do a heck of a sales job to convince the nation of this. Further complicating his last-minute legacy rehabilitation: Nobody seems to be paying attention. The White House had high expectations for yesterday’s final, historic news conference. “ONE CORRESPONDENT PER ORGANIZATION,” proclaimed the bulletin sent to reporters. “STANDING ROOM ONLY FOR NON-SEAT HOLDERS.” But when the appointed hour of 9:15 a.m. arrived, the last two rows in the seven-row briefing room were empty, and a press aide told White House interns to fill those seats.
Heh heh. George W. Bush will not be missed by anyone. On a more positive note, this time next week Barack Obama will be president.
(I will never get tired of this video so deal with it for the rest of the week.)
It’s official. George W. Bush has the highest disapproval rating of any U.S. president in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.
The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.
What’s also pretty incredible is how far he’s fallen:
Bush also holds the record for the other extreme: the highest approval rating of any president in Gallup’s history. In September 2001, in the days after the 9/11 attacks, Bush’s approval spiked to 90%. In another record, the percentage of Americans who say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake reached a new high, 63%, in the latest poll.
Assessments of Bush’s presidency are harsh. By 69%-27%, those polled say Bush’s tenure in general has been a failure, not a success.
From the most popular to the least popular in only eight years. Presided over an economic “slowdown”–seriously, you can’t call it a recession?–that eighty-six percent of Americans think is going to get worse. The majority of people now recognize that his war for oil and profit was a mistake. A full three-quarters of Americans think our nation is headed the wrong direction under his leadership. People don’t trust Republicans on Iraq, health care, social security, the economy, or immigration. Most historians think he’s the worst president ever.
The Bush presidency is a disaster. The Bush legacy will be one of failure.
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