GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ – President-elect George W. Bush announced that Colin Powell, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will serve as Secretary of State for the Bush administration. According to a Gallup poll conducted December 15-17, public opinion of the general is very positive; 83% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of him and just 6% an unfavorable opinion. Powell's appeal crosses over into all political persuasions -- 90% of Republicans, 80% of independents, and 80% of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of the Secretary of State designate.
Powell is also better known and better liked than his predecessors. His favorable ratings have been in the mid to high 70s since 1996, while the rating of his immediate predecessor, Madeleine Albright, reached just 69% in July of 2000, the last time Gallup asked. Albright's favorable rating was only 36% when she was first named Secretary of State in January, 1997. At that time, 59% of the public had never heard of her or had no opinion of her.
President Clinton's first Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, received just a 41% favorable rating from the public when he was on the job in 1994. Only Henry Kissinger rivals the positive sentiment expressed toward Powell -- as President Nixon's Secretary of State, he received a favorable rating from 80% of the public in a 1973 Gallup poll.
Survey Methods
The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, 18 years and older, conducted December 15-17, 2000. For results based on the whole sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. How about... [Random order]?
Colin Powell
|
|
|
Never |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
(NA) 2000 Dec 15-17 |
83 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
|
(NA) 2000 Aug 4-5 |
79 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
|
(NA) 2000 Apr 28-30 |
78 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
|
(NA) 1997 Apr 18-20 |
77 |
7 |
7 |
9 |
|
(RV) 1996 Aug 14-16 |
74 |
13 |
4 |
9 |
|
(NA) 1995 Nov 6-8 |
67 |
13 |
5 |
15 |
|
(NA) 1995 Sep 22-24 |
64 |
13 |
6 |
17 |
|
(NA) 1995 Jul 20-23 |
73 |
6 |
7 |
14 |
|
(NA) 1995 Apr 17-19 |
72 |
9 |
7 |
12 |
|
(NA) 1994 Mar 28-30 |
66 |
11 |
9 |
14 |
|
(NA) 1994 Jan 15-17 |
72 |
7 |
11 |
10 |
|
(NA) 1993 Sep 10-12 |
70 |
8 |
-- |
22 |
|
(NA) 1993 Jan 29-31 |
71 |
9 |
-- |
20 |
Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him or her. First, how about... [RANDOM ORDER]?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
|
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
Never heard of |
No opinion |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
(NA) 2000 Jul 6-9 |
69 |
17 |
6 |
8 |
|
(NA) 1999 Apr 13-14 |
61 |
22 |
5 |
12 |
|
(NA) 1998 Dec 28-29 |
64 |
14 |
7 |
15 |
|
(NA) 1998 Feb 20-22 |
62 |
15 |
9 |
14 |
|
(NA) 1997 Jan 10-13 |
36 |
5 |
29 |
30 |
Next, I'd like your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. [RANDOMIZED]
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
|
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
Never heard of |
No opinion |
|
|
(NA) 1994 Jan 6-8 |
41% |
21 |
13 |
25 |
|
(NA) 1994 Jul 19-21 |
39% |
14 |
19 |
28 |
In general, would you say you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Henry Kissinger?
|
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
No opinion |
|
|
(NA) 1973 Feb 19 |
80% |
8 |
12 |
NA – National Adults
