U.S. President George W. Bush is setting a new record for low job approval rating with 62 percent of Americans giving him a failing grade.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll telephone survey of 1,008 adults taken Monday through Thursday, shows Bush's approval rating standing at 38 percent which has not changed for seven consecutive months.

Only two American presidents suffered more embarrassing poll results than Bush. Harry Truman's popularity sank considerably during the last two years of his time in office. Richard Nixon was also in the lows for thirteen months before resigning over the Watergate scandal.


A Gallup Poll analyst Jeffrey Jones says "It's pretty hard for a president to get ratings this low in general, and then to be in the position where you basically don't budge - that's been reserved for some of the least popular presidents during the worst times of the last 60 years."

Jones believes President Bush is on the verge of joining Nixon and Truman as the only presidents to average approval ratings below 40 percent.

Gallup's average approval rating for presidents is 55 percent. While former U.S. President Bill Clinton averaged 61 percent in his second term, Bush has a second-term average of 41 percent.

In light of the increase in violence in Iraq, Bush dipped below 40 percent in October, 2006 and his standing hasn't risen above that level since then.

SO/HAR