President Bush has never had a sustained increase in his approval rating since he took office six and a half years ago. There have been only three times when he has had a significant increase in his approval rating:

1. When the country came together immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent start of the war in Afghanistan.
2. When the country came together during the the invasion of Iraq.
3. When Saddam Hussein was captured.

Beyond that, there is nothing that President Bush has done that has led to a sustained increase in his approval rating.

Steven Ruggles, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, mapped out the history of President Bush’s approval ratings from 13 separate polling groups. He then developed a running 2-week average trend-line for the president since he took office. The long-term decline in the acceptability of his performance since 2001 is truly stunning.

The most remarkable thing is that President Bush’s approval rating had already declined from the mid to upper 50s to the mid to lower 50s in his first eight months in office. Then came the 9/11 attacks when it shot high into the stratosphere. Looking at the graph makes me wonder if he would’ve been elected to a second term had it not been for the country rallying around our president in a time of crisis.

Certainly it is not reasonable to expect any president to sustain the nearly 90% approval rating he had and some decline from there is inevitable. For President Bush though, barring the notable exceptions I listed, the fall has been steep and consistent for his entire presidency. That is not normal.

President Nixon’s approval rating was in the mid to low 20s when he resigned. President Bush’s just crossed the 30% barrier heading south. Only two other presidents in the modern era have gone this low: President Truman, who was saddled with the Korean War, and President Nixon, who broke faith with the Constitution and the American people. President Bush has a war and has broken America’s faith.

Regardless of whether the future brings impeachment, resignation, or simply 18 months more of the Bush administration, this will not end well.