Poll: Majority Say Founding Fathers Would Consider US 'Failure'

A majority of Americans believe the Founding Fathers would consider the United States a failure, Rasmussen Reports poll showed.

Rasmussen asked 1,000 adults, "If the Founding Fathers came back today, would they consider the United States a success or a failure?"

Only 27% of respondents said they believed the Founding Fathers would consider the country a success, down 7 percentage points from a year ago, Rasmussen Reports found.

A total of 53% said the Founding Fathers would view the country as a failure. That tops the previous high of 49% who said the same in 2013.

Another 20% said they were undecided how men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin would feel about the country they founded 246 years ago.

More Democrats (32%) than Republicans (29%) or unaffiliated Americans (20%) said the Founding Fathers would consider the U.S. a success today.

More men (34%) than women (20%) think the Founding Fathers would view the U.S. as a success.

Whites (55%) more than Blacks (48%) and other minorities (50%) said the Founding Fathers would consider the country today to be a failure.

Americans with annual incomes of more than $100,000 were most likely to say the Founding Fathers would view the U.S. as a success.

Adults also were asked, "Do you consider the Fourth of July to be one of our nation's most important holidays, least important holidays or somewhere in between?"

A total of 53% said July 4 was one of the nation’s most important holidays, and 34% said it ranked in between "most important" and "least important."

Only 10% said it was one of the least important holidays.

Americans through the years have ranked the Fourth of July as the country's second-most important holiday, behind Christmas.

Republicans (68%) were more likely than Democrats (44%) or unaffiliated Americans (50%) to believe that the Fourth of July is one of our nation's most important holidays.

Only 43% of adults under 40 believe it's one of our nation’s most important holidays, compared to 58% of those ages 40-64 and 65% of Americans over 65.

Blacks (36%) were less likely than whites (56%) or other minorities (55%) to say the Fourth of July is one of our nation’s most important holidays.

The Rasmussen Reports survey was conducted June 26-27. The margin of sampling error is plus-minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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