Former President Bush (left) may be benefiting from President Obama's stumbles. Bush job rating higher than Obama's

George W. Bush’s job approval rating as president has spiked to 47 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

That’s 1 point higher than President Barack Obama’s job approval rating in a poll taken the same week.


This is the first time Gallup asked Americans to retrospectively rate Bush’s job performance. And it was a stunning turnaround from his low point of 25 percent in November 2008. The 47 percent number is 13 points higher than the last Gallup poll taken before Bush left office in 2009 and the highest rating for him since before Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Still, Bush’s 51 percent disapproval rating means he’s only one of two U.S. presidents in the past 50 years whose disapproval exceeds approval. The other is Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace 36 years ago and whose approval rating stands at 29 percent.

Obama’s stumbles and dimming public memories of Bush’s shortcomings appear to be helping fuel the more positive reassessment of him. And, in recent weeks, Bush’s tour to promote his new memoir, “Decision Points,” and the groundbreaking of his new library in Dallas have generated mostly positive press.

Bush’s 47 percent approval rating also raises serious questions about the wisdom of the White House’s decision to relentlessly attack him in the months before the Democrats’ historic losses in the midterm elections. The president had kept warning a House Republican majority would return to Bush-era policies. But Obama’s message did little to galvanize the liberal base, and independents flocked to the GOP on Election Day.

Bush’s rebound gives some credence to what he has long said — that history will eventually judge his presidency.

One of his role models is Harry Truman, who left office deeply unpopular but now gets credit for laying the groundwork to fight the Cold War. Bush sees parallels with his own efforts in the early days of the global war on terror.

Gallup also polled on the eight other presidents in the past 50 years, asking: “From what you have heard, read, or remember about some of our past presidents, please tell me if you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following handled their job as president.”

To prevent respondents from getting Bush, the 43rd president, confused with his father — George H.W. Bush, the 41st president — the pollsters added that Bush was president from 2001 to 2009.

John F. Kennedy remains the most popular modern president, with 85 percent of those surveyed saying they approved of his job performance. Ronald Reagan’s job approval was 74 percent. And Bill Clinton’s was 69 percent, up from 61 percent in 2006.

The poll was conducted Nov. 19-21 with a random sample of 1,037 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.