Poll: George W. Bush gains in approval

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- The 43rd U.S. president has gained in esteem since he left office more than four years ago, a new poll indicates.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday found George W. Bush's overall approval rating is 14 percentage points higher now than it was at the end of his second term in office.

Bush left office with an approval rating of just 33 percent and a disapproval rating of 66 percent.

The latest polling found 47 percent now approve of George W. Bush while 50 percent disapprove.

Approval of his handling of the U.S. economy is now 43 percent or 19 points higher than late 2008.

Bush's gains in approval were fairly broad-based, ABC said. However, there were still sharp partisan and ideological gaps.

His approval rating was up by 19 points among Democrats, 16 points among Republicans and 11 points among independents compared to when he left office.

The three key groups where his approval barely budged were among African-Americans, young adults and middle to upper-middle income Americans.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by phone April 17-21 among a random sample of 1,000 adults. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.