Public Pulse

U.S. News and World Report reports President Bush "often argues that history will vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network." The survey found that 98% of historians believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure. 61% say Bush is the worst in American history. Among the reasons given for his low ratings: invading Iraq, tax breaks for the rich, and alienating nations around the world.

As President George W. Bush is fine tuning his last State of the Union address, American adults do not think much of the current state of the country. Four out of five Americans (81%) think that the current state of the country is fair or poor while just 19 percent think it is excellent or good (2% and 17% respectively).