The Bush era is drawing to a close -- not a moment too soon for most Americans. As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: "Good riddance." At least that's the way three-quarters of the people feel. Asked their view of Bush as he departs, 75 percent said they are glad he is leaving, according to a poll taken for CNN by Opinion Research. Only 23 percent said they will miss him.

It has been like a failed marriage. Things started out well. When Bush first took office, more than 60 percent of the public saw him as strong and decisive. That impression was reinforced after 9/11, when the president stood at Ground Zero and declared, "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon." Bush's image of resolve got him re-elected in 2004, when terrorism was still a dominant concern. More than 60 percent of Americans continued to see him as strong and decisive when he took office a second time in 2005.

No more. During his second term, Bush's resolve hardened into stubbornness. Now only 45 percent of the public consider him a strong leader.

The public's confidence in this president has dropped dramatically, especially over the past two years. The number of people who describe Bush as a leader who "inspires confidence" went from 57 percent in 2001 to 45 percent in 2006 to just 20 percent now.

Bush once had a reputation as a good manager (61 percent in 2001). Then came Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and that reputation got blown away. Only 25 percent now say that he has managed government effectively.

Bush got elected on a promise. "I think that people look for someone who is a uniter, not a divider," he said when he first ran for president. But the vast majority of Americans think he betrayed that promise. Only 17 percent now feel that Bush has united the country. The vast majority instead think that he took a country that was divided under President Clinton and divided it more.

Even some conservatives feel betrayed. Evangelical leader Pat Robertson said last month, "I think we've had some serious goofs along the way. The Katrina matter was terrible. The rebuilding of Iraq has been terrible. The handling of the economy right now has been terrible."

Bush's legacy? Fewer than a third of Americans think that George W. Bush will go down in history as a good president. Forty percent say that he will leave a poor legacy, and 28 percent call Bush the worst president in U.S. history.

Now the country is involved in a new relationship. When it comes to honeymoons with new presidents, Americans have been around the block a few times. That's why it's surprising that this new suitor is sweeping so many people off their feet.

In the CNN poll, 82 percent of Americans say they are happy with the way President-elect Obama is handling his transition. Even 61 percent of Republicans like him, and they're the in-laws in this marriage. He's not supposed to be good enough for them. "I am remarkably pleased with Obama," Robertson said. "I had grave misgivings about him. But, so help me, he's come in forcefully, intelligently."

The public is particularly impressed by Obama's Cabinet appointments. Eighty percent approve of Obama's "Team of Rivals." The president-elect said in November, "I assembled this team because I am a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions." But will Obama himself be a strong leader? He insists he will: "Understand where the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me."

Do people think Obama will be tough enough? Apparently, they do. Three-quarters of them feel that the president-elect is a strong and decisive leader. That's higher than the percentage who felt that way about Bush or Clinton when they first took office. In fact, Obama's image of strength and decisiveness is about the same as Ronald Reagan's was in 1981. That's saying something.

It's a bad time for the economy. And the country just went through a failed marriage with the current president. Obama represents hope. Isn't that what honeymoons are supposed to be about?

This article appeared in the Saturday, January 10, 2009 edition of National Journal.

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