(01/01/09) -

Half of Americans Give Low Marks to Bush

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few adults in the United States give good reviews to their outgoing head of state, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. 58 per cent of respondents think George W. Bush will go down in history as a "poor" or "below average" president.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few adults in the United States give good reviews to their outgoing head of state, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. 58 per cent of respondents think George W. Bush will go down in history as a "poor" or "below average" president.

Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. Bush’s tenure was marked by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which led to the start of the war on terrorism against al-Qaeda fighters and members of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and the invasion of Iraq to topple the government of Saddam Hussein in March 2003.

In American elections, candidates require 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the White House. On Nov. 4, Democratic nominee Barack Obama secured a majority of electoral votes, defeating Republican candidate John McCain. Obama will become the first African American president in U.S. history when he takes over from Bush on Jan. 20, 2009.

On Nov. 12, Bush discussed the highlights of his tenure, saying, "I am proud to be the commander in chief of people who are so selfless and so courageous that they would volunteer to serve our country in a time of war. I’m proud when I see people feed the hungry. I’m proud when I’m in Africa and see volunteers helping those citizens dying of HIV/AIDS."

Polling Data

How do you think U.S. president George W. Bush will go down in history?

Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,489 registered American voters, conducted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.