39 photos that show why everyone misses George W. Bush
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
When Bush left office in 2009, he was the politician that everyone in America loved to hate. His approval rating was at 33% - the lowest of any outgoing president since Richard Nixon - and just 24% of Americans approved of the way he had handled the economic collapse.
But things started turning around for Bush, who turned 71 this week, after he left office - even more so since Trump's election.
According to a Washington Post ABC poll from 2013, 47% of Americans said they approve of Bush's eight years in office, which was a seven-year high for the much-maligned former President.
And even more recently, a C-SPAN survey of presidential historians showed Bush making gains in the rankings of presidents. The survey, from earlier this year, showed Bush ranked at 33rd out of 44. When C-SPAN conducted the same poll in 2009, Bush was ranked at 36.
While those marks still aren't stellar, Bush appears to be having a new moment in the American imagination. From his enigmatic shower paintings to his reported profanity-laced remarks after Trump's inauguration, the 43rd president has shown off his softer, folksier side since leaving office, reminding everyone why they liked him in the first place - and even miss him a little bit now.
Grace Wyler contributed to this report.
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