Dwight D. Eisenhower 1963 Typed Letter Signed - Lengthy Letter About Public Opinion Polls
34th President. Three-page typed letter signed “D.E”, July 29, 1963, personal stationery from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to journalist Earl Mazo, marked “Personal”, in full:
Your letter poses a number of questions concerning which I am far from expert. My answers, therefore, are impressions and unsubstantiated opinions. But for what these are worth, I give you my answers.
Question One: I doubt seriously that public opinion polls are important either in politics or government. This doubt rises from the way that polls are necessarily -- or at least seemingly necessarily -- conducted and the results that they achieve. Too many of the questions posed to the public are general rather than specific in nature. For example, such a question as, ‘Do you approve of the Administration's Medicare Plan?’
My conversations with many citizens convince me that there is about one individual out of 100 that understands the principal difference between the program for meeting the health problems of the aged recommended during my Administration and the one later proposed. The answers received to such a general question cannot possibly reflect the importance of these differences.
In politics these polls often ask someone to express a preference among a number of personalities. All too frequently -- although, of course, not always -- the answers reflect the frequency with which the public has heard or seen the name of the individuals rather than any knowledge of their differing political philosophies. For example, if the public were asked to select for some important office today between Robert Anderson, Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, and almost any other individual whose name is fairly well known, from Senator Clark to Mr. Welch, the vote would probably overwhelmingly favor one of these two; yet Bob Anderson is probably better qualified to undertake the heavy responsibility of any political office than almost anyone else in the country. Yet it seems to be a truism that when once we see a rise in a man's popularity in the polls that very fact assures him additional voting strength.
So far as value to the Government is concerned, I think there is some slight usefulness in bringing to the attention of responsible officials the nature of the questions that are concerning people. Probably they do have some influence in initiating programs of information or education. On balance, I would think that probably opinion polls as now conducted do just as much harm as they do good.
Question Two: The only suggestions I could make for pollsters and their clients -- recognizing that polls will be with us for a long time in spite of any opinions I may have -- is that, with each question, the individual selected as one of the "samples" be given a list of pertinent facts, pros and cons about the issues, personalities or proposals under survey. This list should be as honest and carefully made as possible and thereafter the individual queried for his answer. (To this the objection will be made that the sampling would not reflect the existing state of public opinion -- rather it would reflect only the judgment of those people who would be, at least, partially informed as to pertinent facts.) To this I would reply that I would regard the educational value much more important than the answer of the uninformed individual.
Question Three: I think that if our citizenry were accurately and consistently informed as to the problems, issues, personalities and policies with which polls are normally concerned, then the careful compilation of questions and answers might be of considerable importance. I believe that the fate of the health and vigor of self-government is going to depend on the degree of the popular knowledge on these subjects and on the level of interest the citizen may exhibit in informing himself and in developing his own conclusions.
Of course, I understand that you are not going to quote me directly on this matter and that you were asking for background ideas only. If anything I have written would seem to you to have any validity whatsoever, you are at liberty to use it as your own.
Accompanied by original mailing envelope.
Earl Mazo was a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, New York Times and Newsday, and author of numerous political biographies and histories. He specialized in writing about Republicans such as Eisenhower and Nixon.
34th President. Three-page typed letter signed “D.E”, July 29, 1963, personal stationery from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to journalist Earl Mazo, marked “Personal”, in full:
Your letter poses a number of questions concerning which I am far from expert. My answers, therefore, are impressions and unsubstantiated opinions. But for what these are worth, I give you my answers.
Question One: I doubt seriously that public opinion polls are important either in politics or government. This doubt rises from the way that polls are necessarily -- or at least seemingly necessarily -- conducted and the results that they achieve. Too many of the questions posed to the public are general rather than specific in nature. For example, such a question as, ‘Do you approve of the Administration's Medicare Plan?’
My conversations with many citizens convince me that there is about one individual out of 100 that understands the principal difference between the program for meeting the health problems of the aged recommended during my Administration and the one later proposed. The answers received to such a general question cannot possibly reflect the importance of these differences.
In politics these polls often ask someone to express a preference among a number of personalities. All too frequently -- although, of course, not always -- the answers reflect the frequency with which the public has heard or seen the name of the individuals rather than any knowledge of their differing political philosophies. For example, if the public were asked to select for some important office today between Robert Anderson, Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, and almost any other individual whose name is fairly well known, from Senator Clark to Mr. Welch, the vote would probably overwhelmingly favor one of these two; yet Bob Anderson is probably better qualified to undertake the heavy responsibility of any political office than almost anyone else in the country. Yet it seems to be a truism that when once we see a rise in a man's popularity in the polls that very fact assures him additional voting strength.
So far as value to the Government is concerned, I think there is some slight usefulness in bringing to the attention of responsible officials the nature of the questions that are concerning people. Probably they do have some influence in initiating programs of information or education. On balance, I would think that probably opinion polls as now conducted do just as much harm as they do good.
Question Two: The only suggestions I could make for pollsters and their clients -- recognizing that polls will be with us for a long time in spite of any opinions I may have -- is that, with each question, the individual selected as one of the "samples" be given a list of pertinent facts, pros and cons about the issues, personalities or proposals under survey. This list should be as honest and carefully made as possible and thereafter the individual queried for his answer. (To this the objection will be made that the sampling would not reflect the existing state of public opinion -- rather it would reflect only the judgment of those people who would be, at least, partially informed as to pertinent facts.) To this I would reply that I would regard the educational value much more important than the answer of the uninformed individual.
Question Three: I think that if our citizenry were accurately and consistently informed as to the problems, issues, personalities and policies with which polls are normally concerned, then the careful compilation of questions and answers might be of considerable importance. I believe that the fate of the health and vigor of self-government is going to depend on the degree of the popular knowledge on these subjects and on the level of interest the citizen may exhibit in informing himself and in developing his own conclusions.
Of course, I understand that you are not going to quote me directly on this matter and that you were asking for background ideas only. If anything I have written would seem to you to have any validity whatsoever, you are at liberty to use it as your own.
Accompanied by original mailing envelope.
Earl Mazo was a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, New York Times and Newsday, and author of numerous political biographies and histories. He specialized in writing about Republicans such as Eisenhower and Nixon.
34th President. Three-page typed letter signed “D.E”, July 29, 1963, personal stationery from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to journalist Earl Mazo, marked “Personal”, in full:
Your letter poses a number of questions concerning which I am far from expert. My answers, therefore, are impressions and unsubstantiated opinions. But for what these are worth, I give you my answers.
Question One: I doubt seriously that public opinion polls are important either in politics or government. This doubt rises from the way that polls are necessarily -- or at least seemingly necessarily -- conducted and the results that they achieve. Too many of the questions posed to the public are general rather than specific in nature. For example, such a question as, ‘Do you approve of the Administration's Medicare Plan?’
My conversations with many citizens convince me that there is about one individual out of 100 that understands the principal difference between the program for meeting the health problems of the aged recommended during my Administration and the one later proposed. The answers received to such a general question cannot possibly reflect the importance of these differences.
In politics these polls often ask someone to express a preference among a number of personalities. All too frequently -- although, of course, not always -- the answers reflect the frequency with which the public has heard or seen the name of the individuals rather than any knowledge of their differing political philosophies. For example, if the public were asked to select for some important office today between Robert Anderson, Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, and almost any other individual whose name is fairly well known, from Senator Clark to Mr. Welch, the vote would probably overwhelmingly favor one of these two; yet Bob Anderson is probably better qualified to undertake the heavy responsibility of any political office than almost anyone else in the country. Yet it seems to be a truism that when once we see a rise in a man's popularity in the polls that very fact assures him additional voting strength.
So far as value to the Government is concerned, I think there is some slight usefulness in bringing to the attention of responsible officials the nature of the questions that are concerning people. Probably they do have some influence in initiating programs of information or education. On balance, I would think that probably opinion polls as now conducted do just as much harm as they do good.
Question Two: The only suggestions I could make for pollsters and their clients -- recognizing that polls will be with us for a long time in spite of any opinions I may have -- is that, with each question, the individual selected as one of the "samples" be given a list of pertinent facts, pros and cons about the issues, personalities or proposals under survey. This list should be as honest and carefully made as possible and thereafter the individual queried for his answer. (To this the objection will be made that the sampling would not reflect the existing state of public opinion -- rather it would reflect only the judgment of those people who would be, at least, partially informed as to pertinent facts.) To this I would reply that I would regard the educational value much more important than the answer of the uninformed individual.
Question Three: I think that if our citizenry were accurately and consistently informed as to the problems, issues, personalities and policies with which polls are normally concerned, then the careful compilation of questions and answers might be of considerable importance. I believe that the fate of the health and vigor of self-government is going to depend on the degree of the popular knowledge on these subjects and on the level of interest the citizen may exhibit in informing himself and in developing his own conclusions.
Of course, I understand that you are not going to quote me directly on this matter and that you were asking for background ideas only. If anything I have written would seem to you to have any validity whatsoever, you are at liberty to use it as your own.
Accompanied by original mailing envelope.
Earl Mazo was a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, New York Times and Newsday, and author of numerous political biographies and histories. He specialized in writing about Republicans such as Eisenhower and Nixon.