Public Still Views Bush Presidency As Failure

The Bush Library is ready to open, and today he will celebrate that opening with Presidents Obama, Clinton, Bush I, and Clinton. Bush is still hoping that history will treat him kindly, and that the library will help to rehabilitate his image. But he has a way to go for that to happen, because the majority of Americans still view his presidency as a failure.

This is in opposition to recent presidents of both parties. George H.W. Bush was viewed by a majority (53%) as having a successful presidency after leaving office, while Bill Clinton was viewed as a success by 68%. Not so for George W. Bush, who was viewed negatively after leaving office and is still viewed negatively by most of the public (the exception being whites, Republicans, the elderly, rural people, and gun owners).

In the wake of the opening of the Bush Library, CNN commissioned a poll. The CNN/ORC POLL was taken between April 5th and 7th of 1,012 random nationwide adults (with a 3 point margin of error). Here are the numbers (with the first number being those who view his presidency as a success, and the number in parentheses being those who view it as a failure):

General public...............42% (55%)

Men...............44% (53%)
Women...............41% (57%)

Whites................52% (45%)
Non-whites...............21% (77%)

18 to 34...............33% (67%)
35 to 49...............44% (53%)
50 to 64...............43% (54%)
65 plus...............55% (41%)

Under $50k...............41% (56%)
Over $50k................42% (56%)

No college...............47% (51%)
Attended college...............39% (58%)

Democrat...............13% (86%)
Independent...............43% (53%)
Republican...............80% (19%)

Northeast...............35% (63%)
Midwest...............43% (53%)
South...............47% (51%)
West...............42% (56%)

Urban...............32% (65%)
Suburban...............46% (51%)
Rural...............52% (46%)

Gun in household...............55% (43%)
No gun in household...............31% (66%)