WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- As George W. Bush spends his final days in office , a national poll suggests that two-thirds of Americans see his presidency as a failure . President Bush gives his farewell address to the nation on Thursday at the White House . Sixty-eight percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday said that Bush 's eight years in the White House were a failure , with 44 percent saying this was because of his personal shortcomings and 22 percent blaming the failure on circumstances beyond his control . Thirty-one percent said they consider Bush 's presidency a success . Half of those polled say the United States could be better off today if Al Gore had been elected president in 2000 rather than Bush , with 27 percent saying the country would be worse off if Gore had won . Twenty-two percent say things would be about the same . `` Due to the Florida recount , Bush had the misfortune of coming into office under controversial circumstances , '' CNN polling director Keating Holland said . `` A lot of Americans apparently remember those circumstances and now wish things had gone a little differently . '' Only 3 percent of those questioned say Bush was one of the greatest presidents in the nation 's history . Forty-six percent rate him a poor president . `` That 's three times higher than the number who gave a failing grade to his father or Ronald Reagan when they left office , and it 's 27 points higher than Bill Clinton in 2001 , '' Holland said . Thirty-one percent approve of Bush 's performance in the White House , his final approval rating as president . `` The good news for Bush : That 31 percent figure is 7 points higher than it was in November , a typical 'nostalgia bump ' that most outgoing presidents get , '' Holland added . `` The bad news is that except for the rating Richard Nixon has when he resigned , that 's the lowest approval rating an outgoing president has received in the six decades of scientific public opinion polling . '' The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted from January 12 to 15 , with 1,245 adult Americans questioned by telephone . The survey 's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for some questions and 4.5 percentage points for others .
68 percent of people questioned in poll say George W. Bush presidency was a failure . 31 percent call Bush presidency a success , CNN/Opinion Research poll shows . Comment: Half of those polled say U.S. would be better off if Al Gore had won in 2000 .