Gallup: "Only Richard Nixon was explicitly less popular at the time of his exit than Bush is today."

Gallup's final poll on Bush shows his approval rating at 34% (it's gone up a bit because of Republicans) and his disapproval at 61% (Democrats and Independents can't stand him). Since the Bush team is all about legacy these days, here's some historical perspective from Gallup. The key finding is that Bush beats Nixon, but that's about it:

In one sense, Bush's final rating is worse than either Carter's or Truman's, because his disapproval score is significantly higher. Whereas Bush and Carter share identical 34% final job approval ratings, 61% of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing, compared with 55% who said they disapproved of Carter in December 1980. Similarly, whereas Bush's final approval rating is slightly higher than Truman's 32% in 1952, his disapproval rating is also higher (61% vs. 56%), resulting in a lower net approval rating for Bush.

Only Richard Nixon was explicitly less popular at the time of his exit than Bush is today. Gallup's final approval polling on Nixon, in which 24% of Americans said they approved of the job he was doing, was conducted Aug. 2-5, 1974, less than a week before Nixon resigned from office over the Watergate break-in political scandal.

Of all the recent presidents, Bill Clinton had the highest approval rating (66%) upon leaving office.

Here's the chart of Bush's approval over the last year. Americans didn't like him. We really didn't like him. And, he's earned that disdain.