In his final address to the nation last night before leaving the presidential office next week, President George W. Bush emphasized the fact that the United States has become a safer place thanks to his administration’s policies. The President tried to summon a collective sense of "gratitude" for that part of his administration’s accomplishments.

Bush said the sign that his administration’s firm position towards terrorism paid off was the fact that there were no other terrorist attacks after Sept. 11. He added that, although his policies to fight terrorism led to "legitimate debate," there can be little debate over the final results.

“America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil," said Bush. He held his address from the East Room of the White House.

However, he did say there are things he would do differently and decisions that he is not quite proud of. But he insisted that no matter the decision he took, he acted in the nation’s best interest.

However, as President Bush prepares to leave office, approximately 75 percent of Americans are quite happy about it, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll. Although things started out well and more than 60 percent trusted Bush as a strong leader when he took office, events such as Hurricane Katrina, the rebuilding of Iraq and the handling of the economy blew his reputation away.

As many analysts said, Bush underlined the fact that his legacy can not be determined from the current mood and that there is no such thing as “short-term history." The legacy of a president is judged in times of peace and prosperity and it takes time to see if the policies one president followed and implemented had positive results. According to some analysts, it takes about 50 years to look back from an historical perspective. One can’t jump to conclusions right after the president leaves office.

Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Bush’s two mandates as U.S. President will be marked in history books by the Sept. 11 attacks and their consequences. However, what the Bush administration did after the terrorist attacks – war in Afghanistan and Iraq – is seen by many U.S. citizens (more than 60 percent of the public opinion) as mistakes.

Another thing Bush said he did right was to help implement tax cuts, but that can not be regarded as a success when the Bush administration’s economic record is the worst of any president since World War II.

Bush’s prime-time address is his final public appearance before he will attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday. The ceremony will be held at the Capitol.

The invited audience for his final address included his wife, Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and relatives of 11 victims of the World Trade Center attacks.