Bush Failure Rating Is Highest Of Any Modern President

Nearly four times as many voters think President Bush is a failure than a great leader, according to a new Zogby poll. In a new survey of 843 likely voters taken January 5-9, 30.2 percent called Bush a failure compared to 7.9 percent who graded him great. And just over 50 percent of those polled said Bush was either below average or a failure.

His failure rating even topped that of former President Richard Nixon. The poll, provided to U.S. News and the Bulletin, asked voters to judge presidents as far back as Franklin D. Roosevelt. As it turned out, FDR was judged the greatest president.

The greatness ratings by president were: FDR, 58.7 percent; Harry Truman, 26.5 percent; Dwight Eisenhower. 21.1 percent; John F. Kennedy, 43 percent; Lyndon Johnson, 5.8 percent; Richard Nixon, 4.5 percent; Gerald Ford, 17.5 percent; Jimmy Carter, 13.5 percent, Ronald Reagan, 34.2 percent; George H.W. Bush, 10.3 percent; Bill Clinton, 21.2 percent; and Bush 7.9 percent.

The failure ratings by president were: FDR, .2 percent; Truman, .5 percent; Eisenhower, .1 percent; JFK .5 percent; LBJ, 7.6 percent; Nixon, 23 percent; Ford, .9 percent; Carter, 10.2 percent; Reagan, 3.7 percent; George H.W. Bush, 8.2 percent, Clinton, 11 percent; and Bush, 30.2 percent.

By Paul Bedard