George W. Bush Popularity Beats Obama’s Approval Rating In 2013

Is George W. Bush popular now? Well, his 2013 popularity ratings are beating President Obama’s approval ratings.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, George W. Bush has been suffering from a heart condition this year. Despite being life threatening, Bush joked he “didn’t behave that well when I was younger and I might have smoked some.”

Bush’s legacy continues to be controversial, so much so that a liberal website rewrote the official Bush library history in order to blast the former president. But despite some haters continuing to complain, George W. Bush’s popularity has risen significantly since leaving office.

Earlier this year, Bush’s approval rating stood at 49 percent, with only 46 percent viewing the ex-president unfavorably. From September of their first years in office until winter/spring of their fourth years, Bush was far more popular than Obama, at least as measured by approval ratings. Obama caught up in the first half of 2012, and has hovered around the same approval rating as Bush until recently. Starting in 2013, President Obama’s approval rating dipped down to 37 percent in October, which means Obama is less popular than Bush at the same time frame in their second terms (maybe Obama needs some Paxil according to SNL).

But George W. Bush shouldn’t be celebrating too much. Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton all have favorability ratings over 60 percent. It’s possible it may take many years before Bush Junior reaches that level of support.

Statistician Nate Silver weighs in on the comparative numbers game for the last seven presidents:

“The seven presidents were quite popular, on average, in their first term. Their approval ratings averaged 59 percent throughout their first term, and 57 percent in the final year of their first term, when they faced an election. By contrast, the same presidents averaged a 48 percent approval rating during their second term. Moreover, their approval ratings declined throughout their second term – to an average of only 42 percent by the final year of their second term.”

But George W. Bush doesn’t seem too concerned about his approval rating as it currently stands:

“My attitude, if they’re still writing biographies of the first guy, the 43rd guy doesn’t need to worry about it. I’m also very comfortable with the fact that it’s going to take a while for history to judge whether the decisions I made are consequential or not. And therefore I’m not too worried about it.”

Bush also won’t criticize Obama:

“I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president criticize his successor. You have to believe in what you’re doing, first and foremost. I relied upon my faith, my family helped a lot and I had a good team around me and did the best I could do.”

Do you think George W. Bush’s popularity ratings proves he was a better president based upon the Obama approval rating?