George W. Bush

=== Reception ===
The George W. Bush presidency has been ranked as below-average in [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|surveys of presidential scholars]] published in the late 2000s and 2010s.<ref name="US News">{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/17/historians-rank-george-w-bush-among-worst-presidents|title=Historians Rank George W. Bush Among Worst Presidents, Lincoln and Washington were rated as the best|date=September 2, 2009|access-date=January 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202121702/http://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/17/historians-rank-george-w-bush-among-worst-presidents|archive-date=February 2, 2011|publisher=US News}}</ref><ref name="Austin">{{cite web|url=http://hnn.us/articles/historians-still-despise-george-w-bush|title=History News Network &#124; Historians Still Despise George W. Bush|last=Austin|first=David|publisher=[[History News Network|HNN]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501010212/http://hnn.us/articles/historians-still-despise-george-w-bush|archive-date=May 1, 2013|access-date=May 1, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Mann">{{cite news |last1=Mann |first1=James |author-link1=James Mann (writer) |title=It's not too soon to judge George W. Bush's presidency on key issues |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-0205-mann-assessing-george-bush-20150206-story.html |access-date=August 8, 2020 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160414020730/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-0205-mann-assessing-george-bush-20150206-story.html |archive-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}}

A 2010 [[Siena Research Institute]] survey of the opinions of historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars ranked him 39th out of 43 presidents. The survey respondents gave President Bush low ratings on his handling of the U.S. economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments, and intelligence.<ref name="Siena_2010">{{cite web|url=http://www2.siena.edu/uploadedfiles/home/parents_and_community/community_page/sri/independent_research/Presidents%20Release_2010_final.pdf|title=Rushmore Plus One; FDR joins Mountainside Figures Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln as Top Presidents|date=July 1, 2010|publisher=[[Siena Research Institute]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001005/http://www2.siena.edu/uploadedfiles/home/parents_and_community/community_page/sri/independent_research/Presidents%20Release_2010_final.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Bush said in 2013, "Ultimately history will judge the decisions I made, and I won't be around because it will take time for the objective historians to show up. So I am pretty comfortable with it. I did what I did."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/2/george-w-bush-history-will-judge-opinion-polls-i-c |title=George W. Bush: History will be the judge; as for opinion polls, 'I could care less'|website=[[The Washington Times]]}}</ref> C-SPAN's 2021 survey of historians ranked Bush as the 29th-best president; Bush had initially been ranked the 36th in 2009.<ref name="CSPAN Survey">{{cite web |title=George W. Bush – C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021 {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?personid=3813 |website=[[C-SPAN]] |access-date=July 18, 2021}}</ref>

Among the public, his reputation has improved since his presidency ended in 2009. In February 2012, Gallup reported that "Americans still rate George W. Bush among the worst presidents, though their views have become more positive in the three years since he left office."<ref name="gallup0212">{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=David |title=Gallup: Reagan and Clinton are favorite presidents |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/02/gallup-reagan-and-clinton-are-favorite-presidents/1 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=February 19, 2012 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220175717/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/02/gallup-reagan-and-clinton-are-favorite-presidents/1 }}</ref> Gallup had earlier noted that Bush's favorability ratings in public opinion surveys had begun to rise a year after he had left office, from 40 percent in January 2009 and 35 percent in March 2009, to 45 percent in July 2010, a period during which he had remained largely out of the news.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/141485/Bill-Clinton-Popular-Barack-Obama.aspx |title=Bill Clinton More Popular Than Barack Obama |date=July 21, 2010 |publisher=Gallup Politics |access-date=January 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122111932/http://www.gallup.com/poll/141485/Bill-Clinton-Popular-Barack-Obama.aspx |archive-date=January 22, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> A poll conducted in June 2013 marked the first time recorded by Gallup where his ratings have been more positive than negative, with 49 percent viewing him favorably compared to 46 percent unfavorably.<ref>{{cite web|date=June 11, 2013|title=Former President George W. Bush's Image Ratings Improve|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/163022/former-president-george-bush-image-ratings-improve.aspx|access-date=October 14, 2020|website=Gallup|language=en}}</ref> Other pollsters have noted similar trends of slight improvement <!--by roughly five percentage points--> in Bush's personal favorability since the end of his presidency.<ref name="pollingreport.com">{{cite web |access-date=December 14, 2012 |archive-date=December 25, 2012 |url=http://www.pollingreport.com/BushFav.htm |title=George W. Bush: Favorability Ratings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225135929/http://www.pollingreport.com/BushFav.htm |url-status=live |publisher=pollingreport.com }}</ref> In April 2013, Bush's approval rating stood at 47 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval in a poll jointly conducted for ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], his highest approval rating since December 2005.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mali|first=Meghashyam|date=April 23, 2013|title=Poll: George W. Bush's approval rating rising post-White House|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/148406-poll-george-w-bushs-approval-rating-rising-post-white-house/|access-date=October 14, 2020|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|language=en}}</ref> Bush had achieved notable gains among seniors, non-college whites, and moderate and conservative Democrats since leaving office, although majorities disapproved of his handling of the economy (53 percent) and the Iraq War (57 percent).<ref name="George W. Bush's approval rating just hit a 7-year high. Here's how.">{{cite news |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/23/george-w-bushs-approval-rating-just-hit-a-7-year-high-heres-how/ |title=George W. Bush's approval rating just hit a 7-year high. Here's how. |last1=Cillizza |first1=Chris |author2=Sullivan, Sean |date=April 23, 2013 |access-date=April 24, 2013}}</ref> His 47 percent approval rating was equal to that of President Obama's in the same polling period.<ref name="TheHill20130423">{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/148406-poll-george-w-bushs-approval-rating-rising-post-white-house/ |title=Poll: George W. Bush's approval rating rising post-White House |last=Mali |first=Meghashyam |date=April 23, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=April 24, 2013 |archive-date=April 24, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424213526/http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/295457-poll-george-w-bushs-approval-rating-rising-post-white-house}}</ref> A [[CNN]] poll conducted that same month found that 55 percent of Americans said Bush's presidency had been a failure, with opinions divided along party lines, and 43 percent of independents calling it a success.<ref>{{cite news |last=Steinhauser |first=Paul |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/24/cnn-poll-how-will-history-remember-george-w-bush/comment-page-8/ |title=CNN poll: how will history remember George W. Bush? |publisher=CNN |date=April 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428062154/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/24/cnn-poll-how-will-history-remember-george-w-bush/comment-page-8/ |archive-date=April 28, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bush's public image saw greater improvement in 2017, with a [[YouGov]] survey showing 51 percent of favorability from Democrats.<ref>{{cite web|title=When judging Presidents, most people rate the past higher than the present|url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/10/25/when-judging-presidents-most-people-rate-past-high|access-date=October 14, 2020|website=YouGov|language=en-us}}</ref> A 2018 CNN poll subsequently found that 61 percent of respondents held of a favorable view of Bush, an increase of nine points from 2015.<ref>{{cite web|date=January 2018|title=CNN/SSRS Trump Inaugural Anniversary Poll (page 29)|url=https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4356689/Trump-Inaugural-Anniversary.pdf}}</ref> The improvement has been interpreted as Democrats viewing him more favorably in response to [[Presidency of Donald Trump|Donald Trump's presidency]],<ref>{{cite web|date=November 3, 2017|title=Democrats Want Trump To Be More Like Bush ... So He Could Actually Accomplish His Agenda?|url=https://reason.com/2017/11/03/democrats-want-trump-to-be-more-like-bus/|access-date=October 14, 2020|website=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |access-date=April 22, 2018 |date=April 25, 2017 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/miss-me-yet-george-w-bush-democrats/524175/ |title=How Democrats Came to Feel Nostalgic for George W. Bush|work=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |access-date=April 22, 2018 |date=October 23, 2017 |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/145456/liberals-stop-applauding-george-w-bush |title=Liberals, Stop Applauding George W. Bush|magazine=The New Republic|last1=Heer |first1=Jeet }}</ref> an assessment that has also been expressed by Bush himself.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376909-bush-says-trump-makes-me-look-pretty-good-by-comparison-report/ |title=Bush says Trump 'makes me look pretty good' by comparison: report |last=Bowden |first=John |date=March 6, 2018 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref>