The Senate on Thursday approved Ben Bernanke's nomination to a second four-year term running the world's most powerful central bank despite deep misgivings over his perceived policy missteps.

The Senate voted 70-30 to confirm Bernanke, after clearing a procedural hurdle with the support of 77 senators.

Bernanke, who has been credited with steering the U.S. economy through a wrenching financial crisis but who is also under fire for policies that set the stage for the turmoil, encountered the stiffest opposition the Senate has put up in the three decades it has voted on nominees to head the U.S. central bank.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Ben Bernanke