President Bush today passionately defended his turbulent eight years in office and lashed out at the "elites" and "opiners" who claim he has damaged America's moral standing in the world.

At a final and often gripping White House press conference, in which he veered from nostalgia to outright aggression, Mr Bush was largely unrepentant. He defended his economic and foreign policy record, including Iraq, the current financial crisis and Guantanamo Bay.

"You know, there's plenty of critics in this business. I know that. And I thank you for giving me a chance to defend a record that I am going to continue to defend because I think it is a good, strong record," Mr Bush declared, nine days before he leaves office. He departs with an approval rating of 27 per cent, the lowest since Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974.

Mr Bush was inevitably asked to list the mistakes he has made in office. He conceded several, describing the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal as a "huge disappointment" and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as a "significant disappointment".