Despite the Iraq war being a disaster for all concerned, most especially for those serving on the front lines, military veterans of that conflict and of Afghanistan far prefer George W. Bush as president rather than Barack Obama.
This preference was among the findings of a Washington Post -Kaiser Family Foundation national poll of 819 veterans of both wars, which among other things also detailed the substantial physical and mental challenges for soldiers upon returning home from a combat theater.
The vets support of George W. Bush, Democrat Obama’s GOP predecessor in the Oval Office, is even more striking in that only 44 percent of the vets in the survey felt that the war in Iraq was worth fighting (and just 53 percent for Afghanistan). Of those vets polled, 65 percent nonetheless indicated that Bush was a good commander in chief, while 54 percent of them disapprove of the way Obama is handling the presidency in general.
The preference for Bush prevailed regardless of party affiliation: “When it comes to their most-senior commander, the vets decisively prefer George W. Bush to Obama. Only a third approve of the way Obama is handling his job, and 42 percent of them think he has been a good commander in chief despite his decisions to bring troops home from Iraq, wind down the war in Afghanistan and increase resources for veterans. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of them think Bush, who launched both wars, was a good commander in chief. Their views of the two presidents appear to be shaped less by political affiliation than by concern over the Obama administration’s plans to reduce the size of the military, trim benefits for future service members and curtail the purchase of some costly new weapons systems. Nearly half of vets regard themselves as political independents. Among those who identify with a party, the Republican-Democratic split is only 27 percent to 17 percent.”
Depending upon which survey you consult and/or believe, if any, President Obama currently has a national approval rating of about 43 percent .
The Inquisitr reported in November that Obama’s approval was lower than George W. Bush’s rating at the same point of his presidency and that America’s opinion of Bush despite his controversial legacy is improving as time wears on.
Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, Obamacare a.k.a the Affordable Care Act, only has a 26 percent approval rating according to an AP poll.