As he begins promoting his new memoir “Decision Points,” former US President George W Bush receives a 44 per cent favourable rating from Americans, an opinion poll said.
This is up slightly from a 40 per cent favourable rating in January 2009 when he left office, but far below the 87 per cent he received in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, reported the Gallup polls.
Bush’s image in the eyes of Americans has been through sweeping changes over the past 11 years, encompassing one of the largest ranges in favourable ratings in Gallup’s history.
Gallup said Bush remains a highly polarizing figure in American society, with an 87 per cent favourable rating among Republicans nationally, and an almost mirror-image 85 per cent unfavourable rating among Democrats.
Independents are more negative than positive. Bush has maintained a low-visibility lifestyle in Dallas, Texas, since leaving the White House, giving few interviews and making only the occasional public appearance.
Now, the publication of his memoir has required the president to resume a more public existence.
In the time-honoured tradition of publishers’ demands for authors of books that involve multimillion-dollar advances, Bush is making the rounds of high-visibility talk shows, including the “Today Show,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” and is giving extensive newspaper interviews.
It remains to be seen how this visibility, plus the impact of the book itself, will affect Bush’s image in the eyes of Americans in the weeks and months ahead, Gallup said yesterday.