WASHINGTON: As President George W. Bush said farewell to the country Thursday night, many wonder how history will remember the forty-third president and what his legacy will be.

In his final address to the nation, Bush said that while he experienced some setbacks during his turbulent eight years in office: "I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right."

He leaves office with approval ratings not seen since the days of Richard Nixon. In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, Bush had a 27 percent approval rating. Some 67 percent of those polled disapproved of his conduct of the office.

Bush leaves behind two unfinished wars and an economy in turmoil, and he warned in his speech of tough times ahead. The president who came to office vowing to be a "uniter not a divider" alluded to the deep partisan divisions that marked his eight years in office. But he said he hoped the American people would remember him as a man who stayed true to his principles.

"You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made," Bush said. "But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make tough decisions."

He used his farewell address to stress that the nation has not suffered a major terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. But the threat remains, he said, and will be President-elect Barack Obama's biggest challenge.

"Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again," Bush said in the nationally televised address from the White House.

Bush, who listed the Iraq war as one of his efforts to combat terrorism, said he understands disagreement with some "tough decisions" he made, "but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make tough decisions."

The two-term president acknowledged experiencing setbacks but also listed accomplishments, including creation of a Department of Homeland Security, new counterterrorism surveillance laws, the No Child Left Behind education bill, prescription drug assistance and adding conservative justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

He did not mention his authorization of harsh interrogation techniques, another decision that has been among the most controversial and divisive of his presidency.

"There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions," Bush said. "But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil."

The speech will be Bush's last appearance in public until Tuesday, when he turns the Oval Office over to his successor, Barack Obama.

Bush left Friday for Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. He will spend the weekend there with his family and a handful of aides, including Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state; Joshua Bolten, the White House chief of staff; and Stephen Hadley, his national security adviser.

Media assessments of Bush's last presidential speech repeatedly harped on his low approval ratings in public opinion polls.

Most cable commentary tended to break along established patterns, with Bush receiving praise on Fox News and harsh criticism on MSNBC. On Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, for example, host Bill O'Reilly said, "I thought the President's speech was good. He's certainly entitled to give it and should give it. ... ... He's a good man. And he wanted the best for America."

On MSNBC's Countdown, however, Keith Olbermann asked rhetorically whether "the only thing missing" from Bush's speech "was another 'mission accomplished' banner," in reference to the banner that flew on an aircraft carrier from which Bush spoke early in the Iraq war. (Even Bush admitted, in one of his farewell interviews, that the banner was a mistake.)

Also on MSNBC's Countdown, Chris Matthews went after Bush's philosophy with a vengeance, calling it "scary" and less faith-based than Cheney-based - an adherence by the president, Matthews said, to the thinking of so-called neoconservatives that led to catastrophe in the Mideast, not glory.