George H.W. Bush - The 41st President - Has Died

President George H.W. Bush died on November 30th at the age of 94.

I never voted for Bush, and I opposed many of the policies he pursued. But unlike our current president, I believed Bush to be a decent man who tried to do his best for the country. And it looks like history will remember him kindly. The charts above are from the Gallup Poll. They show he finished him term with a 56% approval rating, and currently enjoyed an approval rating of 64%.

Here is part of his obituary in The Washington Post:

George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993.

The last veteran of World War II to serve as president, he was a consummate public servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of a four-decade Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.

His death, at 94 on Nov. 30, also marked the passing of an era.

Although Mr. Bush served as president three decades ago, his values and ethic seem centuries removed from today’s acrid political culture. His currency of personal connection was the handwritten letter — not the social media blast.

He had a competitive nature and considerable ambition that were not easy to discern under the sheen of his New England politesse and his earnest generosity. He was capable of running hard-edge political campaigns and took the nation to war. But his principal achievements were produced at negotiating tables.

“When the word moderation becomes a dirty word, we have some soul searching to do,” he wrote a friend in 1964, after losing his first bid for elective office.

And to his credit, he understood the danger of electing Donald Trump -- and he did not support him.

Public Doesn't Expect Trump And Democrats To Cooperate

Americans voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in the congressional races -- with about 9 million more votes for Democrats than Republicans (53.2% for Democrats to 45.1% for Republicans). Knowing that a Republican will be in the White House until the next election, it is clear that the voters opted for a divided government.

Why? Part of it is that they just didn't like Trump or his agenda. Another part is the abject failure of congressional Republicans to rein in the worst of Trump's actions and rhetoric.

But the voters didn't elect the Democrats to encourage cooperation between Trump and Congress. They would like to see some compromise for the good of the country, but they don't expect it. Only 33% say Trump will cooperate with Democrats, and only 28% say Democrats will cooperate with Trump. Americans expect two years of gridlock, and evidently finds that preferable to allowing Trump to have free rein for two more years.

Things were much different back in 2006, when George W. Bush faced an influx of Democrats in Congress. Things were not quite so rabidly partisan then. About 52% said Bush would cooperate with Democrats and 48% said Democrats would cooperate with Bush.

The charts above reflect the results of a recent Gallup Poll -- done between November 13th and 18th of a national sample of 1,499 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

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From the Cook Report:

Trump Is Still Polling Worse Than Other Presidents

As Trump approaches his first 100 days in office, he still is polling far worse than other presidents. He started his term polling worse than Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, or Obama -- and that is still true. At this point in their presidencies, all of those previous presidents polled much better than Trump. He does about as well as previous Republican presidents among the Republican base, but does much worse than them among Independents and Democrats.

Those Independents are especially important. In 2018 and 2020, we can expect for Republicans to vote for Republicans and for Democrats to vote for Democrats, but many electoral contests will be decided by who the Independents vote for -- and right now they aren't too enamored of this president.

These charts are from a new Pew Research Center Poll -- done between April 5th and 11th of a random national sample of 1,501 adults, with a 2.9 point margin of error.