U.s. Image | featured news

A key figure in Japan's ruling party dubbed Americans "simple-minded" in a speech to fellow lawmakers Wednesday.

A Western Hemisphere summit was wrapping up Sunday with President Barack Obama hopeful he'd boosted the image of the U.S. among its friends in the region and perhaps even made new ones.

The enduring legacy of the "ugly American" has not been easy to shake, and even the U.S. president knows the score.

President Obama, rejecting former Vice President Dick Cheney's contention that he has put the nation at greater risk of terrorism, suggests in a "60 Minutes" interview that the previous administration's stance was an "advertisement for anti-American sentiment."

The image of the United States around the world has improved in the past year while China and Russia's standing in other countries has slipped, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.