WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (AFP) - President George W. Bush begins his second term in office with a 51-percent approval rating, a far lower figure than that of other US presidents who were elected to a second term over the past 50 years, a poll out Wednesday found.
The USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll noted that, as they went into their second terms, presidents Harry Truman in 1949, Ronald Reagan in 1985 and Bill Clinton in 1997 had approval ratings above 60 percent, while Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 and Lyndon Johnson in 1965 topped 70 percent.
Only Richard Nixon notched up a 51-percent rating like Bush's when starting his second term back in 1973.
Though he has suggested that he has a political mandate after winning the tight November 2 election, the poll found that 49 percent of those surveyed believe the president is a unifying force, while 49 percent believe he is more a divider than a uniter.
Fifty-three percent said they believed the United States would fare better in Bush's second term in office, but 42 percent feared that things would take a turn for the worse, the poll said.
Asked about the Iraq war, a majority of 52 percent said the United States made a mistake in sending in the troops; 47 percent disagreed.
The poll of 1,007 people was taken January 14-16 and had a three-percentage-point margin of error.
01/19/2005 16:20 GMT - AFP