NEW YORK —  George W. Bush has reason to smile. Halfway through his "honeymoon" majorities of Americans approve of the job he's doing, favor his tax cut proposal, give positive ratings on his leadership skills and moral standards and, probably most importantly, have confidence in the future of the stock market.

According to the latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll, 56 percent approve of the job Bush is doing as president, and 60 percent rate his leadership skills as either "excellent" or "good." Leadership is considered the most important quality for a president (39 percent), outranking high moral standards (26 percent) and knowledge of the issues (24 percent). In the recent past, high moral standards largely outranked other qualities as being the most important for a president to have.

While only 39 percent of the public rate the current economy positively, most think the country is experiencing a "downturn, but not a recession" (63 percent). Only 12 percent think the country is currently in a recession. Fifty-five percent of Americans (and 58 percent of investors) favor Bush's proposed tax cuts, and 46 percent think a major tax cut would decrease the chance of a recession.

Whether it's being called a downturn or a recession, President Bush receives the least amount of credit (or blame depending on one's perspective) for today's economy (six percent). Twenty percent say the public is most responsible for current economic conditions, 17 percent say Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve, and 11 percent say Congress, and 11 percent say former President Clinton.

A majority approves of the job Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board are doing and 72 percent say they pay attention to the Board's decisions about raising and lowering interest rates. Probably in the hope that it would boost the stock market, 56 percent would like to see the Board lower rates at its meeting later this month and 29 percent say leave interest rates at their current level.

Looking one year down the road, almost half of the public (and about 60 percent of investors) expects the stock market to be higher than it is today.

"This figure can be read in a number of ways," commented Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman. "On the one hand, it suggests that many people are basing their current assessment of the economy-which has changed radically in just the last 90 days-from news reports rather than personal experience. That gives it a somewhat unreal feeling for many people and they expect it to end as quickly and as relatively painlessly as it began.

"On the other hand, if things are bad as some economic forecasters suggest, it means that real drops in consumer confidence are still ahead. Real layoffs, real unemployment, the realization that any tax cut won't have a real impact for quite some time could plunge consumers into real pessimism as opposed to the 'conventional wisdom' pessimism we're seeing now."

Looking five years down the road, on a completely different topic, only 35 percent of Americans think Bill and Hillary Clinton will still be married while 40 percent see divorce in the future. As talk continues of the former president running for mayor of New York City, 30 percent say they would vote for him if he ran for mayor in their city (65 percent would not).

Both Bill and Hillary continue to suffer from low favorable ratings. Mrs. Clinton's national favorable rating hit its lowest level ever this week, coming in at 39 percent (51 percent unfavorable). That's down from 52 percent favorable two months ago. The former president's favorable is holding steady at 40 percent (54 percent unfavorable).

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll Results

Polling was conducted by telephone March 14-15, 2001 in the evenings. The sample is 904 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. LV = likely voters

1. I'm going to read the names of some political figures. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. If you've never heard of someone, please just say so. (Randomize)
SCALE: 1. Favorable 2. Unfavorable 3. (Can't say) 4. (Never heard of)

George W. Bush:

2. Dick Cheney:

3. Bill Clinton:

4. Hillary Clinton:

5. Do you approve or disapprove of the job George W. Bush is doing as president?

6. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Dick Cheney is doing as vice-president?

7. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board are doing?

8. Based on what you've seen so far, how would you rate President Bush's leadership skills?

9. Overall, how would you rate the quality of the people President Bush selected to be in his Cabinet?

10. In general, which of the following do you think is the most important qualification for a president to have?

11. On a scale of excellent, good, only fair and poor, how would you rate President Bush's:

Knowledge of the issues:

12. Leadership skills:

13. Moral standards:

14. In general, do you think the president's job is better described as:

15. If last November's election for president were held over again tomorrow, for whom would you vote: 1. Republican George W. Bush 2. Democrat Al Gore 3. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, or 4. Reform Party candidate Patrick Buchanan 5. (Other/Would not vote) 6. (Not sure)

16. Thinking back to last November's election for president, who do you believe won the election - (Bush) or (Gore)?

17. Recently there have been stories about Vice President Cheney's heart problems. Would you say you are:

18. This week there has been a rumor that President Clinton may run for mayor of New York City next year. If Clinton ran for mayor in your city, would you vote for him or not?

19. Looking ahead five years, do you think Bill and Hillary Clinton will still be married?

20. On a scale of excellent, good, only fair and poor, how would you rate economic conditions today?

21. Who do you think is most responsible for the current condition of the economy?

22. A year from now, do you think the stock market will be higher, lower or about the same as it is now?

23. Do you think the country is currently:

24. How likely do you think an economic recession is in the U.S. in the coming year?

25. How likely do you think it is that you or someone in your family will lose their job this year?

26. Have you personally tried to reduce your household and personal spending because of concern about a possible recession or job loss?

27. Have you made plans for a summer vacation this year? (If yes) Compared to your last vacation, do you plan to spend more or less on this year's vacation?

28. How much attention do you pay to the Federal Reserve Board's decisions about raising or lowering interest rates?

29. At the next meeting of the Federal Reserve Board later this month, do you think the Board should:

30. Do you own any shares in mutual funds - either directly or through a retirement plan such as a 401k?

31. Based on what you know about it, do you favor or oppose President Bush's proposal for a $1.6 trillion dollar tax cut over the next 10 years?

32. Which of the following do you think would be better for the country?

33. Do you think a major cut in federal income taxes is more likely to:

34. What is the maximum percentage of a person's income that should go to taxes - that's all taxes - state, federal and local? Out of every dollar, what's the highest percentage anybody should have to pay?