The Pittsburgh Press (August 23, 1941)
The Gallup Poll –
JOIN LEAGUE? PUBLIC DIVIDED
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Large number still undecided on question
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By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
Princeton, N.J., Aug. 23 –
Discussion of the Anglo-American “eight points” for the post-war world has inevitably raised speculation about the possibility of another – and stronger – league of nations rising from the ashes of the old.
While the Roosevelt-Churchill declaration does not specifically refer to a post-war league, one interesting question is what the average men in the United States thinks about organizations of this kind.
Do you think the United States should have joined the League of Nations after the last war?
Yes… 37%
No… 37%
No opinion… 26%
The replies are no indication of the way the country may have felt 22 years ago.
Institute surveys show there has been an interesting change of opinion regarding the League in the last four years. When the Institute asked voters in the fall of 1937, “Would you like to see the United States join the League of Nations?”, two persons in every three were opposed.
Further studies have shown opinion divided almost 50–50 today on the question of joining a new post-war league.
In the Senate fight on the League question 22 years ago, the bitterest opposition came from Midwestern leaders. In the present survey, something of these old sectional lines remain.
By region
Yes No No opinion New England 39% 36% 25% Mid-Atlantic 39% 36% 25% East Central 35% 39% 26% West Central 27% 45% 28% South 39% 30% 31% West 42% 35% 23%