By Fran Beyer | Tuesday, 01 August 2023 02:19 PM EDT
Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/us/gallup-military-confidence-poll/2023/08/01/id/1129258/
Americans’ confidence in the U.S. military is at the lowest point in two decades, new data from Gallup has found. When asked how much confidence they had in the military, 60% said they had a great deal or quite a lot. The last time confidence in the military was this low was in 1997, and it hasn’t been lower since 1988, when 58% were confident, according to Gallup.
Republicans have been the most likely to express confidence in the military, though the rate has declined by over 20 percentage points in three years, from 91% to 68%, Gallup reported.
Independents’ confidence has dropped nearly as much — by 13 points, from 68% to 55%. Democrats’ confidence rating rose after President Joe Biden assumed office, but the gains to 68% have disappeared in the past year, and now stand at 62%, the pollster found.
“Public perceptions of the U.S. military have fluctuated dramatically over the past five decades,” Gallup’s Mohamed Younis wrote in an analysis of the findings.
“The aftermaths of the Gulf War and 9/11 were followed by resounding upticks in confidence in the military,” he added. “The latter of these surges ushered in an era of elevated confidence lasting nearly two decades.
“Now that the U.S. has completely withdrawn from both Iraq and Afghanistan … confidence in the military has continued to decline among the public.”
According to Gallup, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s — during the Cold War and amid threats to U.S. power, including the Iran hostage crisis — between 50% and 58% of Americans were confident in the military. Confidence generally improved during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s. It then surged after the Gulf War victory to a record-high 85% in 1991, and again after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Confidence generally held above 70% for the next two decades, until dipping to 69% in 2021 and declining since then after the United States’ disastrous exit from Afghanistan. The military had retained public trust — despite its decline — even as other institutions like the police, public schools, and organized religion saw steep drops, according to Gallup.
The margin of error in the Gallup Poll Social Series was not released.
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