A recent Gallup poll reveals that public confidence in the United States military is continuing to diminish, with only 60% of Americans expressing “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of confidence in the military.
According to the recent Gallup poll, which was conducted from June 1 to June 22, the public’s confidence in the U.S. military has reached its lowest point in more than 20 years. Last year, Gallup’s poll indicated that 64% of Americans expressed confidence in the military.
Over the past five years, polls have revealed a trending decline in the public’s confidence in the U.S. military. According to Gallup, the last time public confidence in the military was at 60% was in 1997. The latest poll indicates the least amount of public confidence in the military since 1988, when only 58% of Americans expressed confidence in the military.
While public confidence in the military remained between 50% and 58% during the Cold War and the Iran hostage crisis in the late 1970s and early 1980s, public confidence in the military improved significantly during President Ronald Reagan’s administration and the Gulf War. Public confidence in the military also increased following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and typically remained over 70% for the following two decades.
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In 2021, public confidence decreased to 69% and has continued to decrease in the aftermath of the Biden administration’s failed Afghanistan withdrawal, according to Gallup.
Over the majority of the past five decades, Republicans have traditionally been more likely to express public confidence in the military than Democrats and Independents. While the recent Gallup poll continues that trend, recent polling has seen Republican confidence in the military drop from 91% to 68% in just the past three years.
During the same period of time, public confidence in the military from Independent voters has decreased from 68% to 55%, with Independents now expressing less confidence in the military than Democrats. However, according to Gallup, any increase in Democrats’ confidence in the military since the inauguration of President Joe Biden has vanished over the past year.
