Washington, Dec 18: US President George W Bush has said that his efforts to protect American people are "paying off," and added that he didn't compromisehis soul to become a popular guy.

In an interview with FOX News, President Bush said: "I've been a war-time president. I've dealt with two economic recessions now. I've had, hell, a lot of serious challenges. What matters to me is I didn''t compromise my soul to be a popular guy."

"Look, everybody likes to be popular. Everybody wants to be liked. But I just -- what do you expect? We've got a major economic problem and I'm the president during the major economic problem. I mean, do people approve of the economy? No. I don't approve of the economy. If you make decisions based upon polls, you''ll be a failure as president," Bush said.

He said that he is looking at all options when it comes to requests for an automaker bailout; and also discussed his legacy as he prepares to leave the White House.

The president said he's not worried that his response to the financial crisis or his handling of the Iraq war will mar his legacy as he prepares to leave office next month.

"I will be known as somebody (who) saw a problem and put the chips on the table to prevent the economy from collapsing. I'm a free-market guy. But I'm not going to let this economy crater in order to preserve the free-market system," Bush told FOX News.

Bush said he's still considering how to deal with requests for emergency funding from Detroit's Big Three automakers, but will resolve the issue `relatively soon.'

Bush said he believes a "disorganized bankruptcy or disorderly bankruptcy"would cause "great harm to the economy."

After a 14 billion dollar bailout bill failed in the Senate last week, the Bush Administration is considering several options. Aside from letting the automakers file for bankruptcy, the administration could tap funding from the 700 billion dollars financial bailout bill.

The president also downplayed the importance of his approval ratings, which are hovering at below 30 percent and have been below 40 percent for more than two years. (ANI)