George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has drawn significant domestic and international criticism since his election in 2000. His level of popular support has declined from 90 percent (the highest ever recorded by The Gallup Organization) immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks to 26 percent (in a Newsweek poll taken in June 2007 ), the lowest level for any sitting President in 35 years, rivaling Richard Nixon's unpopularity at the time of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent resignation. A NBC/WSJ poll also taken in June 2007 indicated only 19% of respondents believing that the country is headed in the right direction, the lowest level recorded in 15 years.
His opponents have criticized his role in the controversial 2000 election, his way of fighting the War on Terrorism, his support for the USA PATRIOT Act and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, among many other acts and issues along the way, and there is currently a movement to impeach him. Former President Jimmy Carter has called Bush's presidency "the worst in history", although he later said that comment was "careless or misinterpreted," and that he "wasn't comparing this administration with other administrations back through history, but just with President Nixon's."