"HISTORY UNDERSTANDS BETTER"

During recent weeks, Bush has been focusing on his legacy.

In many interviews and speeches, he tried to explain how history someday will "better understand and appreciate" his presidency.

However, the poll numbers are still quite disappointing, if not pessimistic.

His approval rating is still hovering around 30 percent, one of the worst among outgoing U.S. presidents.

The president's rating was so low that many media has begun debating the proposition that if "Bush is the worst president in the last 50 years."

However, people close to Bush said that is not the case.

They said the president's strong leadership has been tested by 9/11 attacks, two wars, Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing economic crisis.

"I think history will judge, and we'll see later," First Lady Laura Bush said in a recent interview.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also rejected claims that the Bush presidency has been one of the worst are "ridiculous."

"I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will," she said.

Bob Woodward, a well-known U.S. journalist who wrote four books about Bush, said the president's best hope for his legacy is that the Iraq war will eventually turn out well.

However, "the preponderance of the evidence is that it may not turn out well," he added.

Bush will leave office on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Barack Obama is going to be inaugurated.

(CCTV January 13, 2009)