For the first time since 2005, more Americans view President George W. Bush positively than negatively.
A new Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 49 percent of people view the former president favorably and 46 percent unfavorably. Bush left office in January 2009 with 40 percent of Americans viewing him favorably and 59 percent viewing him unfavorably.
His highest approval rating came immediately after the September 11, 2000 terrorist attacks when 87 percent of Americans approved of the job he was doing. His lowest approval rating of 32 percent came as gas prices soared and the economy spiraled into recession in 2008.
Bush has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office as an unpopular president, but recently reemerged into the public eye with the April opening of his presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The survey polled 1,529 adults in the United States and has a margin of error of 3 percent.
