HNN Poll: How Historians Rank the Presidency of George W. Bush (2008)

“As far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don’t know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach.” — George W. Bush, Fox News Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008

An HNN Poll conducted in the spring of 2004 asked historians to assess the presidency of George W. Bush to that point. That informal, unscientific poll attracted a great deal of attention. It is now four years since that poll was undertaken and there have been many requests that it be updated. In this, the final year of Mr. Bush’s presidency, it seems an appropriate time to conduct another survey of historians on how they rate the Bush presidency at this point.

Only professional historians may participate in this poll. (Independent historians are welcome.) Please email your response. (Copy and paste this page into your email.) Be sure to include your name and school affiliation. Responses will be accepted through March 24, 2008.

We will limit the survey to two questions, followed by an opportunity to give comments:

1. On balance, do you consider the presidency of George W. Bush to have been a success or failure?

Success ___

Failure ___

2. Forty-two people have been president of the United States. At this point, where would you rate the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other men who have held the office?

Best Ever ___

2-10 ___

11-20 ___

21-30 ___

31-41 ___

Worst Ever ___