Bush's final assessment: 34 percent approval

The president is leaving office with the lowest approval rating since Richard Nixon.

Published January 14, 2009 8:05PM (EST)

Gallup released its last poll on President George W. Bush's approval rating today and the results, if you're the president, aren't pretty. Bush leaves office with just 34 percent of Americans approving of the job he's done as president. 61 percent disapprove.

That actually represents a small improvement from the 25 percent approval rating Bush had last November, which isn't too surprising. In an article last month, Gallup Poll Managing Editor Jeff Jones explained that many presidents receive a lame-duck bounce.

But even with this slight uptick, Bush is still ending his term with the worst approval ratings of any president since Richard Nixon, who rated 24 percent approval and 66 percent disapproval. (Jimmy Carter also had a 34 percent approval rating at the end of his presidency, but only 55 percent of Americans disapproved of him.) By comparison, Bill Clinton left office with a 66 percent approval rating, the highest of any president in the last 50 years.

Bush doesn't seem fazed by such math. In an interview that aired last night on CNN, he was asked by Larry King how he feels about his low numbers. "I don't give a darn," Bush responded.


By Vincent Rossmeier

Vincent Rossmeier is an editorial assistant at Salon.

MORE FROM Vincent Rossmeier


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Bill Clinton George W. Bush War Room