George W. Bush

==== Job approval ====
[[File:George W Bush approval ratings.svg|thumb|{{legend|#4A7EBB|approve}}{{legend|#BE4B48|disapprove}}{{legend|#98B954|unsure}}[[Gallup poll|Gallup]]/''[[USA Today]]'' Bush public opinion polling from February 2001 to January 2009]]

Bush began his presidency with [[United States presidential approval rating|approval ratings]] near 60 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/116500/Presidential-Approval-Ratings-George-Bush.aspx|title=Presidential Approval Ratings – George W. Bush|date=January 20, 2008|publisher=Gallup|language=en-us|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120173002/https://news.gallup.com/poll/116500/Presidential-Approval-Ratings-George-Bush.aspx|archive-date=November 20, 2020|access-date=November 25, 2019}}</ref> After the [[September&nbsp;11 attacks]], Bush gained an approval rating of 90 percent,<ref>{{cite news |publisher=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bushs-final-approval-rating-22-percent/ |title=Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent |date=January 16, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-date=December 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215024708/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bushs-final-approval-rating-22-percent/ }}</ref> maintaining 80–90 percent approval for four months after the attacks. It remained over 50 percent during most of his first term<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/106426/Bush-Job-Approval-28-Lowest-Administration.aspx|title=Bush Job Approval at 28%, Lowest of His Administration|last=Newport|first=Frank|date=April 11, 2008|publisher=Gallup|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702202556/http://www.gallup.com/poll/106426/Bush-Job-Approval-28-Lowest-Administration.aspx|archive-date=July 2, 2009|access-date=January 20, 2009}}</ref> and then fell to as low as 19 percent in his second term.<ref name="jobapp19">{{cite news |title=Bush's Popularity: A (Really) New Low? |url=http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/bushs-popularity-a-really-new-low/ |access-date=July 12, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 21, 2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202034333/http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/bushs-popularity-a-really-new-low/ }}</ref>

In 2000 and again in 2004, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine named George W. Bush as its [[Time Person of the Year|Person of the Year]], a title awarded to someone who the editors believe "has done the most to influence the events of the year".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998831,00.html |title=Person of the Year |first=Nancy |last=Gibbs |access-date=March 19, 2008 |magazine=Time |date=December 25, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121190312/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998831,00.html |archive-date=November 21, 2010 }}; {{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2004/story.html |title=Person of the Year |author1=Nancy Gibbs |author2=John F. Dickerson |access-date=March 19, 2008 |magazine=Time |date=December 19, 2004 |archive-date=July 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727015149/http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2004/story.html }}</ref> In May 2004, [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] reported that 89 percent of the Republican electorate approved of Bush.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/11872/Deconstructing-Drop-Bushs-Job-Approval-Rating.aspx|title=Deconstructing the Drop in Bush's Job Approval Rating|newspaper=Gallup.com |date=June 1, 2004|publisher=Gallup|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918050434/http://www.gallup.com/poll/11872/Deconstructing-Drop-Bushs-Job-Approval-Rating.aspx|archive-date=September 18, 2008|access-date=August 19, 2008}}</ref> However, the support waned due mostly to a minority of Republicans' frustration with him on issues of spending, illegal immigration, and Middle Eastern affairs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-15-rice-request_x.htm |title=Republicans criticize Rice over Bush Mideast policy |agency=Associated Press |access-date=September 1, 2008 |date=February 15, 2006 |newspaper=USA Today}}</ref>

Within the United States armed forces, according to an unscientific survey, the president was strongly supported in the 2004 presidential elections.<ref name="military support">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-10-03-bush-troops_x.htm |title=Troops in survey back Bush 4-to-1 over Kerry |access-date=May 9, 2008 |last=Moniz |first=Dave |date=October 3, 2004 |work=USA Today}}</ref> While 73 percent of military personnel said they would vote for Bush, 18 percent preferred his Democratic rival, [[John Kerry]].<ref name="military support" /> According to [[Peter Feaver]], a [[Duke University]] political scientist who has studied the political leanings of the U.S. military, members of the armed services supported Bush because they found him more likely than Kerry to complete the War in Iraq.<ref name="military support" />

Bush's approval rating surged to 74 percent at the beginning of the [[Iraq War]], up 19 points from his pre-war rating of 55 percent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Modest Bush Approval Rating Boost at War's End |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2003/04/18/modest-bush-approval-rating-boost-at-wars-end/ |work=[[Pew Research Center]] |date=April 18, 2003}}</ref> Bush's approval rating went below the 50 percent mark in [[Associated Press|AP]]-[[Ipsos]] polling in December 2004.<ref name="Taipei Times">{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/03/10/2003351719 |title=Bush's job approval rating creeps up in AP-Ipsos poll |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=March 10, 2007 |access-date=September 1, 2008 |archive-date=June 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613223621/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/03/10/2003351719 }}</ref> Thereafter, his approval ratings and approval of his handling of domestic and foreign policy issues steadily dropped. After his re-election in 2004, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=May 5, 2006 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/12643666 |title=Republican right abandoning Bush |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=June 23, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184608,00.html|title=Illegal Immigration, Unchecked Spending Siphon Conservatives From GOP Base|last=Vlahos|first=Kelley B.|date=February 13, 2006|access-date=May 11, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304202422/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C184608%2C00.html|archive-date=March 4, 2009|publisher=[[Fox News]]}}</ref><ref name="Baker">Baker, Kevin, {{cite news|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/second-term-blues|title=Second-Term Blues: Why Have Our Presidents Almost Always Stumbled after Their First Four Years?|date=Aug–Sep 2006|work=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613010021/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/second-term-blues|archive-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref> for his handling of the [[Iraq War]], his [[Political effects of Hurricane Katrina|response to Hurricane Katrina]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/609550 |title=Katrinagate fury spreads to US media |publisher=[[Television New Zealand|TVNZ]] |date=September 7, 2005 |access-date=March 16, 2010 |archive-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717043601/http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/609550 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mike M. |last=Ahlers |publisher=CNN |date=April 14, 2006 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/14/fema.ig/index.html |title=Report: Criticism of FEMA's Katrina response deserved |access-date=March 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425041656/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/14/fema.ig/index.html |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/hurricaneprep_05-09-06.html|title=Online NewsHour Update: Amid Widespread Criticism, Government Prepares for Next Hurricane Season|date=May 9, 2006|publisher=[[PBS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812084219/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/hurricaneprep_05-09-06.html|archive-date=August 12, 2010|access-date=March 16, 2010}}</ref> and to the [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse]], [[NSA warrantless surveillance]], the [[Plame affair]], and [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] controversies.<ref name="Unchecked and Unbalanced">{{cite news |last=Kakutani |first=Michiko |title=Unchecked and Unbalanced |work=The New York Times |date=July 6, 2007 |access-date=September 1, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/books/06book.html |archive-date=July 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721082028/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/books/06book.html }}</ref>

Amid this criticism, the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] regained control of Congress in the [[2006 United States elections|2006 midterm elections]]. Polls conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37 percent approval ratings for Bush,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm |title=President Bush – Overall Job Rating |work=Polling Report |access-date=September 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913124937/http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm |archive-date=September 13, 2008 }}</ref> the lowest for any second-term president at that point in his term since [[Harry S. Truman]] in March 1951 (when Truman's approval rating was 28 percent),<ref name="Taipei Times" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/03/bushs_secondter.html |title=Bush's second-term slump |last=Silva |first=Mark |work=The Swamp |date=March 7, 2007 |access-date=April 27, 2007 |archive-date=April 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422082820/http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/03/bushs_secondter.html }}</ref> which contributed to what Bush called the "thumping" of the Republican Party in the 2006 elections.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 8, 2006 |first=Steve |last=Holland |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-elections-bush-idUSN0747831720061108 |title=Bush admits Republicans took a "thumping" |work=Reuters |archive-date=April 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415020025/https://www.reuters.com/article/2006/11/08/us-usa-elections-bush-idUSN0747831720061108 |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout most of 2007, Bush's approval rating hovered in the mid-thirties;<ref>{{cite web |title=President Bush Job Approval |access-date=September 1, 2008 |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/ |publisher=RealClearPolitics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827165022/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/ |archive-date=August 27, 2008 }}</ref> the average for his entire second term was 37 percent, according to Gallup.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx |title=George W. Bush Presidential Job Approval |access-date=July 12, 2012 |newspaper=Gallup |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402045152/http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx |archive-date=April 2, 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:Protesters 3, May 23, 2007.jpg|thumb|Protest against the [[Iraq War]] in New London, Connecticut on May 23, 2007]]
By the beginning of 2008, his final year in office, Bush's approval rating had dropped to a low of just 19 percent, largely from the loss of support among Republicans.<ref name=jobapp19 /> Commenting on his low poll numbers and accusations of being "the worst president",<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history |title=The Worst President in History |access-date=September 1, 2008 |year=2006 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822122622/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history |archive-date=August 22, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22070368-28737,00.html |title=Defending the home front |access-date=September 1, 2008 |work=The Australian |date=July 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009165841/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C22070368-28737%2C00.html |archive-date=October 9, 2007 }}</ref> Bush would say, "I make decisions on what I think is right for the United States based upon principles. I frankly don't give a damn about the polls."<ref name="Fox News">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330234,00.html |title=Transcript: President Bush on 'FOX News Sunday' |publisher=Fox News |date=February 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312070532/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C330234%2C00.html |archive-date=March 12, 2009 }}</ref>

There were [[Efforts to impeach George W. Bush|calls for Bush's impeachment]], though most polls showed a plurality of Americans would not support such an action.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/third_of_americans_want_bush_impeached/|title=Rasmussen Poll: Third of Americans Want Bush Impeached|last=Joyner|first=James|date=December 12, 2005|access-date=May 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919192733/http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/third_of_americans_want_bush_impeached/|archive-date=September 19, 2008|publisher=OutsideTheBeltway.com, OTB Media}}</ref> The arguments offered for impeachment usually centered on the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/dean/20051230.html|title=George W. Bush as the New Richard M. Nixon: Both Wiretapped Illegally, and Impeachably|last=Dean|first=John W.|date=December 30, 2005|access-date=September 1, 2008}}</ref> the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq, and alleged violations of the [[Geneva Conventions]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/impeachment-george-w-bush/|title=The Impeachment of George W. Bush|journal=The Nation|last=Holtzman|first=Elizabeth|date=January 11, 2006|access-date=October 18, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0027-8378|archive-date=October 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025080101/https://www.thenation.com/article/impeachment-george-w-bush/}}</ref> Representative [[Dennis Kucinich]] (D-[[Ohio|OH]]), who had run against Bush during the 2004 presidential campaign, introduced 35 articles of impeachment on the floor of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] against Bush on June 9, 2008, but [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]] [[Nancy Pelosi]] (D-[[California|CA]]) declared that impeachment was "off the table".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/09/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4167427.shtml|title=Kucinich Offers Impeachment Articles Against Bush|last=Bresnahan|first=John|date=June 9, 2008|access-date=June 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927041533/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/09/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4167427.shtml|archive-date=September 27, 2008|publisher=CBS News}}</ref>

In April 2008, Bush's disapproval ratings reached the highest ever recorded for any president in the 70-year history of the [[Gallup poll]], with 69 percent of those polled disapproving of the job Bush was doing as president and 28 percent approving{{snd}}although the majority (66 percent) of Republicans still approved of his job performance.<ref name="USAToday April 21, 2008-bushrating">{{cite news |first=Susan |last=Page |title=Disapproval of Bush breaks record |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-21-bushrating_N.htm |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=April 23, 2008 |date=April 22, 2008}}</ref>

In polls conducted in the fall, just before the 2008 election, his approval ratings remained at record lows of 19 to 20 percent,<ref name="CBSNYTfinalpolls">{{cite news |last=CBS News |title=Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22% |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500160_162-4728399.html |access-date=July 12, 2012 |publisher=CBS News |date=February 11, 2009}}</ref><ref name="ARGbushpolls">{{cite news |title=Republicans Give George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval Rating a Final Boost |access-date=January 25, 2009 |url=http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125052550/http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/ |archive-date=January 25, 2009 |newspaper=[[American Research Group]] |date=January 19, 2009 }}</ref> while his disapproval ratings ranged from 67 percent to as high as 75 percent.<ref name=ARGbushpolls /><ref>{{cite web |title=President Bush Overall Job Rating in National Polls |access-date=July 12, 2012 |url=http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm |publisher=PollingReport.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203032408/http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2009 }}</ref> In polling conducted January 9–11, 2009, his final job approval rating by Gallup was 34 percent, which placed him on par with [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Harry S. Truman]], the other presidents whose final Gallup ratings measured in the low 30s ([[Richard Nixon]]'s final Gallup approval rating was even lower, at 24 percent).<ref name="saadgall">{{cite news |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/113770/Bush-Presidency-Closes-34-Approval-61-Disapproval.aspx |last=Saad |first=Lydia |title=Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval |publisher=Gallup.com |date=January 14, 2009 |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-date=January 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119053947/http://www.gallup.com/poll/113770/Bush-Presidency-Closes-34-Approval-61-Disapproval.aspx }}</ref> According to a [[CBS News]]/''New York Times'' poll conducted January 11–15, 2009, Bush's final approval rating in office was 22 percent, the lowest in American history.<ref name=CBSNYTfinalpolls />