Bush Hits New Low: Ties Carter Approval

July 15, 2008 — -- Driven down by the weak economy and the unpopular war in Iraq, President George W. Bush's job approval rating has reached a new low for the third month straight.

Just 28 percent of Americans approve of how the President is handling his job, matching Jimmy Carter's career low.

Only two presidents have gone lower: Richard Nixon, 24 percent in July and August 1974; and Harry Truman, 22 percent in February 1952.

Sixty-nine percent disapprove of Bush's performance, a record high in presidential approval polls since 1938 (by ABC News to 1981, and Gallup before us). Fifty-six percent "strongly" disapprove of Bush's performance, another record.

Bush hasn't seen majority approval in 42 months, surpassing Truman's record of 39 months from 1949-52. Indeed Bush's approval rating hasn't exceeded even 40 percent since September 2006.

Bush approval peaks among Republicans, at 65 percent; it plummets to 27 percent among independents and only 6 percent among Democrats (the latter a new low).

It ranges from 51 percent among conservatives to 21 percent among moderates and just 7 percent among liberals (all new lows).

Watch "World News with Charles Gibson" at 6:30pm ET for the latest polling on the 2008 election.

METHODOLOGY: This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone July 10-13, 2008, among a random national sample of 1,119 adults, including an oversample of African Americans (weighted to their correct share of the national population), for a total of 209 black respondents. The results from the full survey have a 3-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, PA.