also from larry king live (that treasure-trove of worldly wisdom):

G. BUSH: Let me tell you something about polls. If you had a president who worries about polls, that means you could have a president who makes decisions based upon the polls. We cannot achieve big goals and accomplish hard things if you're worried about opinion polls. The president that chases the opinion poll is the president that will have failed policy, in my judgment.
I like to tell people I would rather be -- when history looks back, I'd rather be judged as solving problems and being correct, rather than being popular.

KING: As Truman once said.

G. BUSH: Is that what he said?

KING: I think he was the most unpopular president, leaving office, since, I guess, Wilson.