At 250 Years, 77% Say U.S. Founders Would Be Disappointed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, just 19% of Americans say the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased with how the country has turned out.

Just over three in four Americans (77%) now say the founders would be disappointed, compared with 71% in 2013 and 42% in 2001. The latest findings come from a May 2026 Gallup survey.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say the founders would be pleased (25% vs. 13%), with independents at 21%. The 2013 and 2026 readings appear to correspond more closely than in previous years with which party holds the White House. In 2013, when Barack Obama was president, 12% of Republicans and 42% of Democrats said the founders would be pleased. However, across political identities, evaluations are significantly lower than they were in 2003 and earlier.

Beyond political identity, views on whether the founders would be pleased are largely similar across age, race and income groups.

Seven in 10 Say the U.S. Has Made Some Progress Toward Its Founding Ideals

Americans provide a more positive assessment when evaluating the progress the country has made in 250 years. About seven in 10 Americans say the nation has had a great deal (20%) or a fair amount (49%) of success in achieving the ideals on which the country was founded.

When Gallup first asked this question 50 years ago, in the nation’s bicentennial year, 77% said the U.S. had achieved at least a fair amount of success in fulfilling its founding ideals. The only other reading, from a 2002 survey conducted in the months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was higher, at 84%.

Few Groups Say the U.S. Has Succeeded a Great Deal in Achieving Its Founding Ideals

Majorities across party, age and income groups say the country has succeeded at least a fair amount in achieving its founding ideals. Democrats are the least likely to say the U.S. has succeeded a great deal (10%), compared with 30% of Republicans and 20% of independents.

Age shows a similar pattern. Just 8% of adults aged 18 to 34 say the country has succeeded a great deal, compared with 23% of those aged 35 to 54 and 24% of those 55 or older. Still, majorities in every age group say it has achieved at least a fair amount.

Differences by income are modest. Those making under $50,000, $50,000 to $100,000 and $100,000 or more say the U.S. has succeeded in achieving its founding ideals at a similar rate. Majorities of both White Americans and people of color say the country has succeeded at least a fair amount, though White Americans do so at a higher rate (74% vs. 61%).

Implications

At 250 years, the share of Americans who think the founders would be pleased is well below where it stood in the early 2000s, and these views are shared across party, age, income and race, not confined to any one group. At the same time, most Americans still say the country has made real progress on its founding ideals, a more positive assessment that, while lower than the measures of 84% in 2002 and 77% in 1976, has held up better than views of how the country has turned out.

The contrast between the two suggests Americans distinguish between the country's long arc and its current state. They are far more willing to credit 250 years of progress toward the founding ideals than to say the founders would be satisfied with where things stand now. That the more downbeat view of the founders' likely reaction cuts evenly across demographic groups points to a discontent rooted less in partisanship than in a broadly shared sense of the present moment.

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