More Americans hold favorable view of George W. Bush than Barack Obama

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush arrive at the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas in 2013. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

More Americans have a favorable view of former President George W. Bush than of President Barack Obama, a new CNN/ORC poll finds.

According to the results of the survey, released Wednesday, 52 percent hold a favorable view of Bush, while 43 percent view the former president unfavorably — the first time in more than a decade that a majority of Americans viewed Bush favorably. The same poll, conducted in April 2005, at the beginning of his second term, found 54 percent held a favorable view of Bush, compared to 45 percent unfavorable.

Like Bush, Obama has seen his favorability fall during his second term. Following the 2012 election, 56 percent viewed Obama favorably versus 41 percent unfavorably. In the latest poll, Americans are split on Obama, with 49 percent holding a favorable view and 49 percent viewing him unfavorably.

In January 2009, when Bush left office, just 33 percent of Americans viewed him favorably compared to 63 percent who held him in an unfavorable light.

Among living presidents, George W. Bush and Obama trail Jimmy Carter (56 percent), George H. W. Bush (64 percent) and Bill Clinton (64 percent) in terms of favorability.

Former presidents Clinton and Bush share a laugh onstage at an event in Washington last year. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Both Clinton and George W. Bush are back in the headlines as a potential — some say inevitable — matchup between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential race looms.

It’s unclear what role, if any, either ex-president will play in his respective family member’s campaign. But another poll, conducted by Bloomberg Politics and the Des Moines Register, suggests some would like to see both involved in their theoretical administrations — at least in Iowa.

According to that poll, also released Wednesday, 83 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers approved of the idea of Hillary Clinton using her husband, Bill, as a close adviser. (Just 9 percent said it was a “mostly bad” idea.)

And 57 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers supported the idea of George W. Bush playing the role of close adviser in a Jeb Bush presidency, while 33 percent called the idea “mostly bad.”