# Do Most non-Americans Know How Despised Bush is in the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 18, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818 "2008-03-18T19:37:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/1 "2008-03-18T19:37:11Z")
This may have been asked before but in absence of search I’ll ask again. Do most non-Americans (I’m referring mostly to western democracies with reasonably high standards of living and full access to news and net) know that while Bush still has his “30%” that could seemingly watch him bite the heads off puppies and sing his praises, the majority of Americans have at best mixed opinions of Bush while a sizeable minority (at least some days probably a slight majority) detest him and his administration? . ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/2 "2008-03-18T19:45:48Z")
I for one have a pretty good idea that he has a massive hate-base within the US. What is his actual approval rating? ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/3 "2008-03-18T19:51:01Z")
I have heard and read about his low approval ratings, yes, but I’m one of a small percentage of the population that pays attention to things like that. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/4 "2008-03-18T19:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] I for one have a pretty good idea that he has a massive hate-base within the US. What is his actual approval rating? [/QUOTE] 30%, as stated above. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/5 "2008-03-18T19:56:46Z")
That 30% may be a bit high – I’ve seen more recent polling showing Bush’s approval rating in the 19% range. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/6 "2008-03-18T19:57:58Z")
In any case, almost 3 out of 4 Americans dislike the guy. for what it’s worth, roughly half of America dislikes Congress too. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/7 "2008-03-18T20:02:29Z")
I am shocked. I thought the OP was using 30% as a ballpark (there are three in ten Americans who love GWB) I had no idea it was REAL! Wouldn’t someone have to be a full-blown tyrant in a real fascist state to achieve such low approval ratings? (Clearly not) Has a US president in the past 100 years done worse? ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/8 "2008-03-18T20:08:33Z")
I recall that Bush has one of, if not THE, lowest approval rating in US history. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/9 "2008-03-18T20:10:24Z")
Maybe Hoover or Truman at some point(Coolidge?). Maybe Nixon at the end. I don’t know where such stats are tracked. I am counting the days until he is gone, but I’ve been counting them for almost 8 years now. He’s a moron and needs to sink into obscurity like Ford did–we can only hope he does so. I’d like to see Cheyney locked into his “undisclosed location” with no food or water, but I’ve always been a vindictive bitch. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/10 "2008-03-18T20:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=EmAnJ] I recall that Bush has one of, if not THE, lowest approval rating in US history. [/QUOTE] Nixon, Carter and Bush I all had lower approval ratings at one time. Harry Truman had the lowest. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/11 "2008-03-18T20:25:21Z")
Yeah, but that was for relatively short periods of time. Our current president’s approval ratings have been in the toilet for _years_ now. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/12 "2008-03-18T20:26:01Z")
They’re easy to find on Google. Here are [some end of term ratings](http://uspolitics.about.com/od/polls/l/bl_historical_approval.htm) , here’s [a graph](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html) , here’s [a verbose table of various Bush ratings](http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/13 "2008-03-18T20:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] I am shocked. I thought the OP was using 30% as a ballpark (there are three in ten Americans who love GWB) I had no idea it was REAL! Wouldn’t someone have to be a full-blown tyrant in a real fascist state to achieve such low approval ratings? (Clearly not) Has a US president in the past 100 years done worse? [/QUOTE] Well, I don’t know if it speaks to our intelligence or our apathy or maybe our desire to do something different…anything different…I really don’t know. Craaazy things have happened in other countries for far less. We’ve been trying to put a finger on the source of our apathy for years now. One can clearly see why apathy is bad when you look at the poll numbers, sense the disapproval, and then see that nothing happens to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/14 "2008-03-18T20:31:53Z")
Bush also had the _highest_ approval ratings in history, [about 90%](http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm), though that was an immediately post-9/11 patriotic fluke when for a few days we’d have probably rallied behind [Dr. Zaius](http://lalengua.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/dr-zaius2a.jpg) if he was our commander-in-chief. I believe he’s the only president to dive more than 60 points from highest to lowest approval ratings. ETA: I stand corrected according to the [link given earlier](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html). I didn’t realize Truman’s high was that high and low was that low, but if that graph is accurate he dived from about 90 to single digits. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/15 "2008-03-18T20:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] In any case, almost 3 out of 4 Americans dislike the guy. for what it’s worth, roughly half of America dislikes Congress too. [/QUOTE] Last I heard, roughly 70% of America dislikes (or “disapproves of”) Congress ([cite from realclearpolitics.com](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/archive/?poll_id=18) who I know nothing about and could be biased but matches what I recall hearing somewhere onetime) and only 20% approves. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/16 "2008-03-18T20:38:44Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Wouldn’t someone have to be a full-blown tyrant in a real fascist state to achieve such low approval ratings? (Clearly not) [/QUOTE] I think it’s more attributible to the damned near impossibility of removing a president, no matter how hated, during his term. There have been grass roots calls for impeachment but none have been taken that seriously, and the only ones to enter Congress have been for Cheney (which is actually a major reason there hasn’t been a louder “Impeach Bush” auto da fa- bad as he is, most people would rather have him than Cheney so you have to take them both out, then people aren’t particularly wild about Nancy Pelosi or (90 year old) Robert Byrd, the only two non Bushites in the succession. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/17 "2008-03-18T21:08:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] …most people would rather have him than Cheney so you have to take them both out, then people aren’t particularly wild about Nancy Pelosi or (90 year old) Robert Byrd, the only two non Bushites in the succession. [/QUOTE] I think too few people, both here and abroad, appreciate the genius behind this arrangement. Bush is an irresponsible, hateful, lazy and selfish punk who has put together a cabinet that let him play the role of world leader, but he is no moron. Not by any stretch. He’s just a jerk who should be banned. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/18 "2008-03-18T21:13:31Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Last I heard, roughly 70% of America dislikes (or “disapproves of”) Congress ([cite from realclearpolitics.com](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/archive/?poll_id=18) who I know nothing about and could be biased but matches what I recall hearing somewhere onetime) and only 20% approves. [/QUOTE] I knew it was at least 50 percent and didn’t know the most recent numbers off the top of my head. Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/19 "2008-03-18T21:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] …Wouldn’t someone have to be a full-blown tyrant in a real fascist state to achieve such low approval ratings? (Clearly not)… [/QUOTE] A full-blown tyrant in a fascist state always has a 99% approval rating. Amazing but true! The remaining 1% are paid agitators of foreign states. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818/20 "2008-03-18T21:42:07Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] A full-blown tyrant in a fascist state always has a 99% approval rating. Amazing but true! The remaining 1% are paid agitators of foreign states. [/QUOTE] I think I meant in a dictatorship… A bad one… where nobody likes the guy in power. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-non-americans-know-how-despised-bush-is-in-the-u-s/441818.md?page=2)