President Bush has delivered yet another speech to reassure Americans that the emergency financial measures taken by his government will be “big enough and bold enough to work."

It was his 34th public statement on the economic crisis since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September.

The speech also represented the latest of Mr Bush’s appeals to boost dwindling public confidence in the overall state of the nation which have come to characterise the dying days of his presidency.

"The actions will take more time to have their full impact ,” he told the US Chamber of Commerce, the symbolic headquarters of American business, before the stock markets opened this morning,.

"It took a while for the credit system to freeze up, it's going to take a while for the credit system to thaw. These are decisive measures aimed at the heart of our financial challenges."

Mr Bush defended the government's extraordinary series of interventions in the financial crisis, calling them measures of the "last resort" that will ultimately work to restore the economy to stability.

"I would oppose such measures under ordinary circumstances," he told the chamber.

"But these are not ordinary circumstances.".

He laid out a more detailed explanation of what the government is doing to battle the financial crisis, but he did not discuss any new policy actions.

He conceded the crisis has now moved beyond Wall Street but sought to reassure Americans they can be confident government actions will set things right over time.

The main thrust of his speech, however, seemed aimed at conservatives and members of the public that are wary of so much government intervention into private markets. He presented himself as a free-market devotee dragged into these moves, which he defended as limited in size, scope and duration. He said there will be strong oversight and perhaps even taxpayer benefit over the long term

"People look at the crisis and say, 'Oh, it's only Wall Street,' " said the President. "I don't think so. In fact, I know that if we had not acted, it would have affected the American people directly."

"If the government had not acted, the hole in our financial system would have gotten larger," he added.

Before the speech, Mr Bush’s press secretary Dana Perino said the aim of the latest public statement was to boost public confidence amid the financial turmoil.

She said: “Always one of the president’s goals is to reassure the American people, try to return confidence and strength to the markets, and to let people know that we’re not going to let the system fail.”

But it is not only the markets that are in need of a confidence boost. President Bush is facing an historically low approval rating – only 24 per cent, according to the most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation – and risks leaving the White House next month as one of the most unpopular presidents in American history.

His reputation is unlikely to be enhanced by Oliver Stone’s new film, W, which will open across American cinemas tonight – less than 18 days before the presidential election.

The first biopic of a US president to be released during his tenure, the controversial film director said he wanted to make the film because he was fascinated by Bush, "a bum at the age of 40 years old."

“He turned his whole life around and through evangelism and through his faith and his family and he became president," Stone said.

"It's a great fantasy and it happened. It's bigger than fiction.”

W opens in the US tonight and will be released in the UK on November 7.

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