(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer adults in the United States are satisfied with the tenure of George W. Bush, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 36 per cent of respondents say that, in comparison to other presidents, Bush has been a poor or very poor leader, while 26 per cent say he is the worst head of state the country has ever had.

Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. The U.S. president’s approval rating has not surpassed the 40 per cent mark in a national survey since December 2006. 

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.

American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006. In January 2007, the Democratic Party took control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. A victory for the Democratic candidates for the Senate in Montana and Virginia also gave the party a majority in the upper house. Democratic California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.

On Sept. 4, as he accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, Arizona senator John McCain declared: "Let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second crowd: Change is coming." McCain has tried to distance himself from the Bush administration during the campaign.

American voters will elect a new president, and renew the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on Nov. 4.

Polling Data

How would you rate George W. Bush in comparison to other presidents in U.S. history? Would you say he is the best president the U.S. has ever had, very good, good, poor, very poor, or would you say he is the worst president the U.S. has ever had?

Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,031 American adults, conducted from Aug. 29 to Aug. 31, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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