Embattled U.S. President George W. Bush has been given an odd boost by movie star Jon Voight, who has become an expert on American leaders. The Transformers star started studying past U.S. presidents a decade ago, reading up on biographies and essays, and he insists history will show Bush is among the country's great leaders.

As the president prepares to give up his office and leave The White House in 2009, after two turbulent and troubling terms, Voight is urging Americans to stop giving him a hard time.

He says, "Firstly, I think America is an extraordinary idea, which we take for granted every day. I've read three or four books about George Washington and five books on Abraham Lincoln, one was The Eloquent President and it shows you the enormous problems he faced. And we can see that, with our president right now, the attacks on him and the vilification of him, the disagreement with this president is so crazy. People say he's so stupid. He's not stupid; he graduated Harvard. Maybe he doesn't talk the way you'd like him to talk, but he's a very smart guy.

"I like all his speeches. You may not agree with all he's done but where is the stupidity? He's an interesting president really. If you get to be elected president of the United States twice you have to have something. He's no dummy."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)