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Public image of George W. Bush

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CBS News/New York Times Bush public opinion polling by Gallup/USA Today from February 2001 to December 2007. Blue denotes "approve", red "disapprove", and green "unsure". Large increases in approval followed the September 11 attacks and the beginning of the 2003 Iraq conflict.

George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has inspired a variety of public perceptions regarding his policies, personality, and performance as a head of state. In the U.S. and elsewhere, journalists, polling organizations, and others have documented the expression of an evolving array of opinions of President Bush. Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year for 2000[1] and 2004,[2] citing him as the most influential person during these two years.

The approval ratings of George W. Bush have, at different points in time, run the gamut from very high to near-record low. Bush began his presidency with ratings near 50%.[3] In the time of national crisis following the September 11 attacks, polls showed approval ratings of greater than 85%, peaking in one October 2001 poll at 92%[3], and a steady 80–90% approval for about four months after the attacks.[4] Afterward, his ratings steadily declined as the economy suffered and the Iraq War initiated by his administration continued. By early 2006, his average rating was near 40%, and in July 2008, a poll indicated a near all-time low of 22%, though others gave a rating of low 30s. One September 2008 poll recorded his approval rating as 19%, a record low for any sitting U.S. President.[3][5][6]

Although an August 2008 poll showed that 41% of Americans thought Bush would go down in history as the worst president of all time, 50% thought otherwise[7] and the former president has repeatedly insisted that history will be the ultimate judge of his presidency.[8]

Contents

[edit] Background

At the beginning of his first term, Bush was regarded by some as lacking political legitimacy due to his narrow victory in Florida and the attendant controversy surrounding his electoral college victory, which included accusations of vote suppression and tampering. Bush has also been accused of squandering opportunities for uniting Americans across party lines. While routinely criticized by Democrats, Bush has also divided legitimate Republicans, American Hollywood celebrities, and sports and media personalities, many of whom have engaged in heated criticism of Bush. Bush has also been subject to criticism in the international community: he has been targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization campaigns, and criticized for his American foreign policy. Bush's policies were also the subject of heated criticism in the 2002 elections in Germany[9] and the 2006 elections in Canada.[10] Diplomatic visits made by Bush have been characterized by protests, sometimes of a significant[weasel words] scale.

[edit] Support among conservatives

Bush has enjoyed strong support among Republicans and Americans holding conservative views, and for the 2004 elections, 95-98% of the Republican electorate approved of and voted for Bush, a figure exceeding the approval of Ronald Reagan. This support has waned, however, due mostly to Republicans' growing frustration with Bush on the issues of spending and illegal immigration. Some Republicans have even begun criticizing Bush on his policies in Iraq, Iran, and the Palestinian territories.[11] Bush has also enjoyed strong personal and working relationships with foreign leaders such as Tony Blair, as well as good rapport with Vladimir Putin and Vicente Fox. Here, tensions have arisen, such as the cooling of the relationship between Bush and Putin.[12] Privately, Bush has expressed regret at the effusiveness he displayed after his first meeting with Putin: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy...I was able to get a sense of his soul."[12]

[edit] Personal image

[edit] Country image

Raised in West Texas, Bush's accent, vacations on his Texas ranch, and penchant for country metaphors contribute to his folksy, American cowboy image.[13][14] "I think people look at him and think John Wayne," says Piers Morgan, editor of the British Daily Mirror.[15] The effect of this image is to polarize the public. Both supporters and detractors have pointed to his country persona as reasons for their support or criticism.[14]

[edit] Intellectual capacity

From time to time, Bush's intellectual capacities have been satirized by the media[16] and other politicians[17] leading to speculation about his IQ, of which no official record is known.[18] Though a report claiming Bush had the lowest IQ of any American President of the last 50 years circulated in 2001, the study was later revealed to be simply a joke taken too seriously.[19] An article published in the journal Political Psychology, has estimated his IQ to be 125.[20] Such a score is above average (95% percentile). The same study estimated Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton to have an IQ of 149.[19] In an interview, it was noted by the study's director that "Bush may be 'much smarter' than the findings imply" but that he "scores particularly unimpressively for 'openness to experience, a cognitive proclivity that encompasses unusual receptiveness to fantasy, aesthetics, actions, ideas and values.'"[21][22][23]

Detractors tend to cite the various linguistic errors made by Bush during his public speeches (colloquially known as Bushisms).[24] Bush's habit of mispronouncing words has received much[weasel words] ridicule in the media and in popular culture. Even as early as the 2000 presidential debates, this was the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch (see Strategery).[25] Perhaps his most famous mispronunciation is that of "nucular" instead of "nuclear". It should be noted, however, that he is not the only American president to have done this, and that Merriam-Webster Online considers this an acceptable pronunciation (though adding a footnote defending its inclusion).[26]

[edit] Domestic perception of Bush

Bush approval rating from 2001 to 2006. Notable spikes in his approval rating followed the September 11 attacks, the beginning of the 2003 Iraq conflict, and the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50%.[3] Following the September 11 attacks, Bush held approval ratings of greater than 85%, among the highest for any President. Since then, his approval ratings and approval of his handling of domestic, economic, and foreign policy issues steadily declined, and despite consistent efforts to do so, President Bush and his Administration were unable to rally public support for the last three years, with each year seeing a steady decline in the Administration's support level to the point of Bush eventually dropping to a 19% approval rating and 77% disapproval rating, both records for a sitting president.[27]

In 2002, Bush had the highest approval rating of any president during a midterm congressional election since Dwight D. Eisenhower. In an unusual deviation from the historical trend of midterm elections, the Republican Party regained control of the Senate and added to its majority in the House of Representatives. Typically, the President's party loses congressional seats in the midterm elections; 2002 marked only the third midterm election since the Civil War that the party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress (others were 1902 and 1934).

In 2003, Bush's approval spiked upward at the time of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February. The upward trend continued through the invasion of Iraq in March. By late 2003, when presidential opponents began their campaigns in earnest, his approval numbers were in the low to middle 50s. Most polls tied the decline to growing concern over the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and a slow recovery from the 2001 recession. Polls of May 2004 showed anywhere from a 53%[28] to a 46% approval rating.[29]

Polls conducted in early 2006 showed an average of around 40%[citation needed] for Bush, relatively low for a president coming off his State of the Union Address, which generally provides a boost.

In April 2006, the president's approval continued to decline. Four states continue to maintain a positive approval rating: Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nebraska. His disapproval rating in traditionally red states had risen, with higher than 60% of voters disapproving in Ohio, Florida, Arkansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, Missouri, and Iowa. Even in his conservative-spun homestate of Texas, disapproval reached 51 percent. His disapproval rating in several American states had reached an all time high, with more than 70% disapproving in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware, Vermont, and New York. His highest approval rating stood at 55% in Utah, and his lowest, 24%, in Rhode Island.[30]

In polls conducted between August 7 and August 16, 2006, Bush's average approval rating was 37.0%, and his average disapproval rating was 57.3%.[31]

A poll taken in mid September 2006 indicated that 48 percent of Americans believed the war with Iraq has made the U.S. less safe, while 41 percent believed the war has made the U.S. safer from terrorism.[32] Another poll shows that a majority of Americans, by a margin of 61 to 35 percent, believe that the United States is not better off because of Bush's policies.[33]

At the conclusion of 2006, an AP-AOL News telephone poll of 1,004 adults found President George W. Bush to be both the top villain and hero of the year.[34] The president was followed in the villain poll by Osama bin Laden, who took in 8 percent to Bush's 25 percent; Saddam Hussein (6 percent); and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (5 percent). In the hero poll, Bush's 13 percent was followed by: Soldiers/troops in Iraq (6 percent), Jesus Christ (3 percent), Barack Obama (3 percent), and Oprah Winfrey (3 percent).[35]

Polls conducted after Bush's troop surge strategy was announced in January 2007 showed his approval rating had dropped to approximately 32.0%.

On February 13, 2008, an average of major polls indicated that Bush's approval rating stood at 33.3%.[31] The same average showed, for polls issued during the period from September 5 to September 16, 2008, that Bush's approval rating was 31.9%, and his disapproval rating was 64.8%.[31]

A poll by Rasmussen Reports on December 10, 2005 asked, "Should President Bush be impeached and removed from office?" 32% said "yes," and 58% said "no."[36] Earlier polls asked conditional versions of the impeachment question. For example, Zogby International on November 2, 2005 asked whether respondents agreed with the statement, "If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment." Americans agreed with this, 53% to 42%.[37] A poll by Newsweek on October 19, 2006 revealed that 51% of respondents believed that the impeachment of George W. Bush should be a priority.[38] An August 2008 poll found that 41% of Americans thought that George W. Bush is the worst President in United States history, while 50% disagreed.[7]

Bush's critics have questioned his leadership skills regarding some events. One occasion was on the moment of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks: after being told by Chief of Staff Andrew Card that the U.S. was "under attack", Bush continued with a reading lesson with elementary school children for seven minutes.[39][40] Democratic 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry cited Bush's lack of swift action, calling into question the incumbent's leadership capabilities, and concluding: "Americans want to know that the person they choose as president has all the skills and ability, all of the mental toughness, all of the gut instinct necessary to be a strong commander in chief."[41] The 9/11 Commission later released a summary of Bush's closed-door testimony, which stated that Bush's "instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis". It went on to say "The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening."[40] This situation was featured prominently in Michael Moore's 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.

Bush twice, in late 2001 and early 2002, stated that before entering the classroom he had seen on a television set the first plane hit the World Trade Center, and that he had assumed it was an accident.[42][43] This was impossible, as no televised footage of the first plane crashing into the tower was broadcast until the afternoon of that day. The White House explained his remarks as "a mistaken recollection".[44]

[edit] Domestic policy

Domestic criticism of Bush has waxed and waned throughout his administration. Before 9/11, Bush was reviled by the bulk of the American left, mostly for his role in the controversial 2000 election, and for perceived shortcomings in his No Child Left Behind program for education.[45] The next major domestic item which Bush faced significant opposition to was his program of tax cuts, codified in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Both acts ultimately passed, but calls for their repeal lasted until the end of the 2004 campaign. Democratic candidate Howard Dean in particular called for a repeal of the part of the tax cuts which affected the wealthiest Americans in order to fund public health care programs and reduce the federal deficit.[46]

After Bush was re-elected, he made Social Security reform a top priority. He proposed options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments, creating a "nest egg" that he claimed would enjoy steady growth. This led Democrats to label the program a "privatization" of Social Security. Bush embarked on a 60-day tour to shore up public support for the plan, attacking the political reaction against reforms. Ultimately, however, no consensus on a plan could be reached within the congressional Republican party, and Bush was left without any political will to pass his reforms. The issue was dropped, and the status quo maintained.[47]

Bush has been increasingly forced to defend his actions on many fronts and has been unable to generate widespread support in the nation as a whole.[48] After the Democratic Party regained control of both houses of Congress, in the 2006 midterm elections, MSNBC reported that "The war in Iraq, scandals in Congress and declining support for Bush and Republicans on Capitol Hill defined the battle for House and Senate control".[49]

Calling Bush "The Mother of All Big Spenders", the libertarian think-tank Cato Institute writes that "Sadly, the Bush administration has consistently sacrificed sound policy to the god of political expediency".[50] Yet when Democrats want to increase spending on domestic issues such as health care for the poor, Bush suddenly becomes a "fiscal conservative" accusing them of "working to bring back the failed tax-and-spend policies of the past" and vowing to fight them. But says Cato's Chris Edwards, "When he gives speeches now, you hear him bashing the Democrats on overspending. It sounds ridiculous, because we know he's a big spender."[51] "After running up $3 trillion in new debt - including more than half a trillion dollars for what some have called his flawed Iraq policy - some people find it astounding that the president is once again lecturing Congress about fiscal responsibility and fiscal priorities," stated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev).[52]

Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18 years, serving under six Presidents and who describes himself as "a lifelong Libertarian Republican", writes in his book The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World that Bush and the congressional Republicans "swapped principle for power". "Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences".

Greenspan, again promoting his book, also says "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil"[53] and "getting Saddam out of there was very important, but had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, it had to do with oil."[54][55] With regards to the costs of the war in Iraq, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will come to between one and one and a half trillion dollars by 2010.

"Those costs -- both to sustain the current mission in Iraq and to pay longer-term 'hidden' expenses like troop healthcare and replacement equipment -- are far more than US officials advertised when Congress gave President Bush the authority to launch the invasion in March 2003. At the time, the White House and then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted a quick, decisive victory and counted on Iraqi oil revenues to pay for the war. And when Lawrence Lindsey, one of Bush's top budget advisers, estimated in 2003 that the entire undertaking could cost as much as $200 billion, he was fired ... McGovern said he is worried about the long-term financial impact of the war, adding that his primary concern is that the United States is borrowing money to pay for it. Some leading economists have predicted that, depending on how long troops remain in Iraq, the endeavor could reach several trillion dollars as a result of more 'hidden' costs -- including recruiting expenses to replenish the ranks and the lifelong benefits the government pays to veterans. 'It is being paid for on the national credit card,' McGovern said. 'It is being put on the backs of our kids and grandkids. That is indefensible.'"[56]

In fact, according to the former World Bank vice-president, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and now a professor at the Columbia Business School, when other factors, like medical and welfare costs of US military servicemen are added in, the cost just to date is closer to $3.3 trillion.[57] However, continues Stiglitz, "Three trillion is a very conservative number, the true costs are likely to be much larger than that". "The money being spent on the war each week would be enough to wipe out illiteracy around the world ... Just a few days' funding would be enough to provide health insurance for US children who were not covered," he said.

The relaxed regulation under the Bush presidency are regarded to have been a major contributing factor to the subprime mortgage crisis, and there are fears that the United States and the world economy could slide into another Great Depression.[58][59]

A Harper's magazine column by Linda Bilmes, a lecturer in Public Finance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Joseph Stiglitz titled The $10 trillion hangover: Paying the price for eight years of Bush, "estimate that the cost of undoing the Bush administration’s economic choices, from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the collapse of the financial system, soaring debt and new commitments to interest payments and Medicare, all add up to over $10 trillion" a monumental amount[2][3]Eight years in office, a $10.6 trillion debt. See also National Debt Graph: Bush Sets 50-Year Record. The National debt from George Washington to the beginning of Ronald Reagan's term totaled about one trillion dollars.

The controversial dismissal of seven U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2006, and their replacement by interim appointees, led critics to argue that the administration had undermined both the integrity of the Department of Justice and the non-partisan tradition of U.S. Attorneys.[60][61][62][63] Others likened the event to Watergate, referring to it as Gonzales-gate,[64] and members of Congress from both parties called for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.[65]

[edit] Response to Hurricane Katrina

Main article: Criticism of government response to Hurricane Katrina

The President came under more criticism when the powerful Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region during the early hours of August 30, 2005. In the wake of the hurricane, two levees protecting New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain collapsed, leading to widespread flooding. In the aftermath of this disaster, thousands of city residents, unable or unwilling to evacuate prior to the hurricane, became stranded with little or no relief for several days, resulting in lawless and unsanitary conditions in some areas. Blame for inadequate disaster response was partially attributed to state and local authorities, but public outcry in the disaster's early hours was largely directed at the Bush administration, mainly FEMA[66] and the Department of Homeland Security[67] alleging weak crisis management and coordination. In fact a Canadian search-and-rescue team actually made it to a New Orleans suburb 5 days before U.S. aid arrived.[68]

Others have identified political conservatism as the overriding cause of problems in the way the disaster was handled.[69] These critics argue that the alleged unreadiness of the United States National Guard, negligence of federal authorities, and haplessness of officials such as Michael Brown did not represent incompetence on the part of the federal authorities, but were instead natural and deliberate consequences of the conservative philosophy embraced by the Bush administration, especially "sink or swim" policies to force reductions in government expenditure and privatize key government responsibilities such as disaster preparedness,[70] [71] both of which resulted in the systematic dismantling of FEMA by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.[72]

Criticism led to the resignation of FEMA director Michael Brown, and eventually, Bush himself accepted personal responsibility for what he deemed "serious problems in the federal government's response" in a September 15, 2005 press conference. Currently, the administration is investigating itself, yet several politicians have called for either congressional or independent investigations, claiming that the Executive Branch cannot satisfactorily investigate itself.[73][74][75] Some critics[who?] point out that Democrats Kathleen Blanco (Governor of Louisiana) and Ray Nagin (Mayor of New Orleans) were given a "hall pass" due to the focus on President Bush's mistakes. 

[edit] Environment

 The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (December 2008)

Bush has been criticized by national and international environmental groups for his administration's rollbacks of environmental protections going back more than three decades. These are in areas ranging from the attacks on the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts to climate change. For a comprehensive (to date of the report) list see the National Resources defense Council's report The Bush Record, NRDC's comprehensive account of the Bush administration's environmental policies from 2001 through 2005. More up-to-date information can be found on the U.S. Senate website. According to MSNBC:

After four years in office, the George W. Bush administration has compiled an environmental record that is taking our nation in a new and dangerous direction. Last year alone, Bush administration agencies made more than 150 actions that weakened our environmental laws. Over the course of the first term, this administration led the most thorough and destructive campaign against America's environmental safeguards in the past 40 years.[76]

In Texas Chainsaw Management (2007) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. argues that "The verdict on George W. Bush as the nation's environmental steward has already been written in stone. No president has mounted a more sustained and deliberate assault on the nation's environment. No president has acted with more solicitude toward polluting industries. Assaulting the environment across a broad front, the Bush administration has promoted and implemented more than 400 measures that eviscerate 30 years of environmental policy." Kennedy has also written a book Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy. See also the website BushGreenWatch.

George W. Bush has also been criticized by the Union of Concerned Scientists, representing over 20 Nobel Laureates, who accuse him of failing to acknowledge basic science on environmental issues. The group says that the Bush administration has engaged in intentional suppression and distortion of facts regarding the environment.[77][78]

In the waning days of his administration, Bush sought rule changes which would negatively impact a wide range of environmental issues. [79]

George Bush is behaving like a furious defaulter whose home is about to be repossessed. Smashing the porcelain, ripping the doors off their hinges, he is determined that there will be nothing worth owning by the time the bastards kick him out. His midnight regulations, opening America's wilderness to logging and mining, trashing pollution controls, tearing up conservation laws, will do almost as much damage in the last 60 days of his presidency as he achieved in the foregoing 3,000. His backers - among them the nastiest pollutocrats in America - are calling in their favours. But this last binge of vandalism is also the Bush presidency reduced to its essentials. Destruction is not an accidental product of its ideology. Destruction is the ideology. Neoconservatism is power expressed by showing that you can reduce any part of the world to rubble.[80]

[edit] Economic Policies

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This article or section may contain unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (February 2009)

Moral and ethical questions have been raised over the billions of dollars Bush has requested for the Iraq war,[81] which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has said ensures that less money is made available to help children and the poor in the United States.[82] Critics have accused him of stinginess toward poor children with regards to health care in a time when it is increasingly unaffordable.[82][83] Another example is Bush's effort to cut food stamps for the poor. In 2005, Bush called for "billions of dollars in cuts that will touch people on food stamps and farmers on price supports, children under Medicaid and adults in public housing."[84] While passed by the Republican Congress, initially the "White House proposed the restriction".[85]

[edit] Foreign policy and national security

[edit] Al-Qaeda

Bush received criticism for publicly using phrases like "bring it on" and "wanted dead or alive," both regarding terrorists. [86] Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., called the president's language "irresponsible and inciteful". "I am shaking my head in disbelief," Lautenberg said. "When I served in the Army in Europe during World War II, I never heard any military commander — let alone the commander in chief — invite enemies to attack U.S. troops."[87] The Iraqi Resistance group known as the "Islamic Jihad Army" put out a video that stated "George W. Bush, you have asked us to 'bring it on.' And so help me, [we will] like you never expected. Do you have another challenge?"[88][89] Bush apologized for these comments in 2006.[90]

[edit] Iraq

Main article: Opposition to the Iraq War

President Bush has taken a significant amount of criticism for his decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 and his handling of the situation afterwards. As President Bush organized the effort, made the case, and ordered the invasion himself, he has borne the brunt of the criticism for the undeclared war.[91] A Newsweek poll taken in June 2007 showed a record 73% of respondents disapproving of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.[92]

[edit] Torture

Main articles: Guantánamo Bay detainment camp and Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse

Another point of discussion has been whether the detainment and treatment of prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison and the Guantánamo Bay detainment camp constitutes torture or not. Although a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll "found that sizable majorities of Americans disagree with tactics ranging from leaving prisoners naked and chained in uncomfortable positions for hours, to trying to make a prisoner think he was being drowned.[93]

President Bush has stated that "We do not torture."[94] Yet, many people and governments[95][96][97] and non-governmental organizations disagree and have staged several protests.[98][99][100][101] These sentiments are partly a result of the Pentagon's suggestion that the president can legally torture anyone he deems to be a threat to security,[102] and because the Bush administration has repeatedly tried to stop attempts at limiting torture,[103] including signing statements by President Bush to exclude himself from the laws created by the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 as well as vetoing legislation that would have made waterboarding and other coercive interrogation methods illegal.[104] Furthermore, many people[105][106][107] are concerned by the Bush Administration's use of Extraordinary rendition, where individuals are sent to other countries where torture can easily occur without any form of oversight. Bush defends this practice on the basis that:[108][109]

[...] the United States government has an obligation to protect the American people. It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way. And we will do so within the law, and we will do so in honoring our commitment not to torture people. And we expect the countries where we send somebody to, not to torture, as well. But you bet, when we find somebody who might do harm to the American people, we will detain them and ask others from their country of origin to detain them. It makes sense. The American people expect us to do that.

A Pentagon memo lists many interrogation techniques which were requested and approved during the presidency of George W. Bush on the basis that "The current guidelines for interrogation procedures at GTMO limit the ability of interrogators to counter advanced resistance".[110] The Bush administration's connection to torture has been one of the main considerations in the movement to impeach George W. Bush.

Torture has in several cases become military policy[110][111] and several high ranking US officials are being charged with war crimes in Germany.[112]

[edit] Foreign perception of Bush

 This article may need to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (March 2009)
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Bush in 2001
President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac during the 27th G8 summit on July 21, 2001.

Opinions of Bush from outside the U.S. are less than favorable. For example, a global sampling[when?] of 21 nations found that 58% of those sampled believed that the president's reelection would have a negative impact on their peace and security. Only 26% believed it would have a positive one.[113]

A mural of President Bush in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April 2006, depicting the local population's perception of his foreign policy and relationship with the British government
Photo by Patrick McAleer

In 18 of 21 countries surveyed[when?] around the world, a majority of respondents were found to hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as "negative" for world security.[113][114]

[edit] In specific countries

The United Kingdom's Daily Mirror newspaper ran the following headline the day of Bush's reelection: “How Can 59,054,087 People Be So Dumb?”, underlining Bush's unpopularity in some sections of the British press. Among the population of Britain, two-thirds of the population holds[when?] a dim view of Bush, a figure that is duplicated in Canada.

Bush fares[when?] slightly better in Italy, where just over half of the population has a negative view, but much worse in other countries. “Three-quarters of those in Spain and more than 80% in France and Germany had a negative view of President Bush's role in world affairs."[114] In Turkey, 72% of those polled said that George Bush's reelection made them “feel worse about Americans".[113] In November 2006, a survey taken in Great Britain, Mexico, and Canada showed that they believe Bush is more dangerous than North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[115]

[edit] Islamic Countries

In Islamic countries, opinion of Bush is even less favorable. In Islamic countries, Bush's unfavorable ratings are particularly high, often over 90%.[116] In Jordan, for example, Bush’s favorable rating is only nine percent.[117]

[edit] Favorable opinion

Bush enjoys somewhat more favorable views among the populations of some allied states, though they are usually a minority of the countries polled. In one multi-nation poll after Bush’s 2004 reelection, India and the Philippines were the only countries (out of 21 that were polled) where a majority (about 60%) saw his return to office as positive for peace and security in the world.[113] In one poll of ten countries, Israel was the only country where the population had a net favorable opinion, with 62 percent favoring Bush.[117]

[edit] Surveys of historians

Main article: Historical rankings of United States Presidents

Since 2006, surveys of professional historians have given the Bush presidency low marks. A 2006 Siena College poll of 744 professors reported the following results:[118]

  • "George W. Bush has just finished five years as President. If today were the last day of his presidency, how would you rank him? The responses were: Great: 2%; Near Great: 5%; Average: 11%; Below Average: 24%; Failure: 58%."
  • "In your judgment, do you think he has a realistic chance of improving his rating? Two-thirds (67%) responded no; less than a quarter (23%) responded yes; and 10% chose no opinion or not applicable."

Thomas Kelly, professor emeritus of American studies at Siena College, said: "President Bush would seem to have small hope for high marks from the current generation of practicing historians and political scientists. In this case, current public opinion polls actually seem to cut the President more slack than the experts do." Dr. Douglas Lonnstrom, Siena College professor of statistics and director of the Siena Research Institute, stated: "In our 2002 presidential rating, with a group of experts comparable to this current poll, President Bush ranked 23rd of 42 presidents. That was shortly after 9/11. Clearly, the professors do not think things have gone well for him in the past few years. These are the experts that teach college students today and will write the history of this era tomorrow."[118]

In 2008, the History News Network conducted an unscientific poll among 109 professional historians. That poll found that, among those professional historians, 98% believe that the George W. Bush presidency is a failure, and that 61% believe it to be the worst in history.[119] Another poll done in 2009 by C-SPAN among 65 professional historians puts Bush at #36 of 42 former presidents. [120]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "And the Winner Finally Is...… George W. Bush". TIME Magazine. 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/20070205062804/http://www.time.com/time/poy2000/. Retrieved on 2009-03-11. 
  2. ^ "Person of the Year President George W. Bush American Revolutionary". TIME Magazine. 2004. http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2004/. Retrieved on 2009-03-11. 
  3. ^ a b c d Roper Center (2009). "Job Performance Ratings for President Bush". http://webapps.ropercenter.uconn.edu/CFIDE/roper/presidential/webroot/presidential_rating_detail.cfm?allRate=True&presidentName=Bush. Retrieved on 2009-03-09. 
  4. ^ USA Today (May 20, 2005). "CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP Poll". http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/01132003.htm. 
  5. ^ PollingReport.com. "PRESIDENT BUSH – Overall Job Rating in national polls". http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm. 
  6. ^ "The National Economy", americanresearchgroup.com, February 19, 2009, http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/ 
  7. ^ a b Rasmussen Reports. "41% Say Bush Worst President Ever; 50% Disagree". http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/41_say_bush_worst_president_ever_50_disagree. 
  8. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (January 12, 2009), "Bush says farewell to White House press corps", International Herald Tribune, http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/12/americas/bush.php 
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  10. ^ CBC News (2005-12-14). "Was the American ambassador meddling in a Canadian election?". CBC.ca Reality Check Team. http://web.archive.org/web/20071013152857/http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/realitycheck/americans.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-11. 
  11. ^ Associated Press (2006-02-15). "Republicans criticize Rice over Bush Mideast policy". http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-15-rice-request_x.htm. Retrieved on 2006-09-09. 
  12. ^ a b Condon, George E. Jr. (2006-07-21). "Bush, White House now leary of Putin as Russian turns back on democracy". San Diego Union Tribune. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060721-9999-1n21usrussia.html. Retrieved on 2006-09-09. 
  13. ^ "The History Boys". Vanity Fair. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/08/halberstam200708. Retrieved on 2009-01-28. 
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  16. ^ Baker, Peter (2006-08-20). "Pundits Renounce The President". Washtington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/19/AR2006081900568_pf.html. Retrieved on 2006-09-11. 
  17. ^ Walters, Simon (2006-08-19). "Blair 'feels betrayed by Bush on Lebanon'". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401414. Retrieved on 2006-09-11. 
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  19. ^ a b http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.asp
  20. ^ Dean Keith Simonton (August 2006). "Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership: Estimates and Correlations for 42 U.S. Chief Executives". Political Psychology 27: 511–526. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00524.x. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00524.x. Retrieved on 2006-09-11. 
  21. ^ Dobson, Roger (2006-09-10). "Bush IQ low on presidential league". Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350564,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-09-10. 
  22. ^ "Bush gets bad rap on intelligence". St. Cloud Times Online. 2001-01-14. http://www.csbsju.edu/uspp/Election/bush011401.htm. Retrieved on 2006-10-09. 
  23. ^ "Who is smarter, Kerry or Bush?". USA Today. 2005-06-10. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/benedetto/2005-06-10-benedetto_x.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-16. 
  24. ^ Jacob Weisberg (November 4, 2000). "Bush, in his own words". Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/US_election_race/Story/0,,392735,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-10-09. 
  25. ^ Dana Milbank (April 22, 2001). "Serious 'Strategery' As Rove Launches Elaborate Political Effort, Some See a Nascent Clintonian 'War Room'". Washington Post. http://www.kencollier.org/classes/PSC448/readings448/SeriousStrategery.html. Retrieved on 2006-10-09. 
  26. ^ Geoffrey Nunberg (October 2, 2002). "Going Nucular". Washington Post. http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/nucular.html. Retrieved on 2006-10-09. 
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  35. ^ Lori McNelly (December 29, 2006). "Hero or villain? Depends on your point of view". Chillicothe Gazette. http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061229/OPINION/612290323/1014. [dead link]
  36. ^ "32% Favor Bush Impeachment". Rasmussen Reports. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2005/Impeachment.htm. 
  37. ^ "53% of Americans Support Impeachment". ImpeachPAC. http://www.impeachpac.org/?q=node/6. 
  38. ^ NEWSWEEK Poll: GOP Losing Its Base - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
  39. ^ Adair, Bill; Hegarty, Stephen (2002-09-08). "The drama in Sarasota". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/08/911/The_drama_in_Sarasota.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-06-15. 
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  42. ^ President Meets with Displaced Workers in Town Hall Meeting 2001-12-04
  43. ^ President Holds Town Hall Forum on Economy in California 2002-01-05
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  88. ^ ABC News
  89. ^ video
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  97. ^ Cody, Edward (2005-03-04). "China, Others Criticize U.S. Report on Rights" (in Eng). Washington Post Foreign Service (The Washington Post Company). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3840-2005Mar3.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-20. "No country should exclude itself from the international human rights development process" 
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  100. ^ Israel, Esteban (2007-01-11). "Guantanamo prison draws protests worldwide" (in Eng) (Reprint). Washington Post News (Reuters). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101177_pf.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-20. 
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  115. ^ Julian, Glover (November 3, 2006), "British believe Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/03/terrorism.northkorea 
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  118. ^ a b Experts: Bush Presidency Is A Failure; Little Chance To Improve Ranking. Siena Research Institute. May 1, 2006
  119. ^ McElvaine, Robert S. "HNN Poll: 61% of Historians Rate the Bush Presidency Worst". April 1, 2008. Available online.
  120. ^ Walsh, Kenneth T. "Historians Rank George W. Bush Among Worst Presidents". February 17, 2009. Available online.

[edit] See also

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George W. Bush
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[edit] External links

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