Data restored from a 1974 survey indicates that the majority of Iowans identified the major problem facing the United States at the time to be inflation and economics. These results come from Iowa Poll #213, a random sample survey of 601 Iowans in July of 1974 restored as part of IPOL’s work to recover lost data from past Iowa polls.

Respondents were offered a list of possible choices and asked “What do you consider to be the major problem facing the United States today?” Respondents were able to select up to three of the options. The most commonly chosen response was “Inflation, economics problems”, at 42.4%. Second was “Lack of confidence in leaders, Watergate” with 32.1%. No other option constituted more than 10% of responses. 

Both Democrats and Republicans identified the same major problem facing the United States at that time, with 46.4% of Republicans and 38.9% of Democrats indicating it to be inflation and economic problems. The second most frequented response by both Democrats and Republicans was a lack of confidence in leaders and Watergate, though only 25.8% of Republicans fell under this category as opposed to 37.8% of Democrats, suggesting varied ideological views on recent events.

Iowa Poll #213, conducted by the Des Moines Register, was administered to a random sample of Iowans in July 1974. In addition to the questions about top problems, the survey asked respondents their opinions on a wide variety of topics, including the economy, inflation, tax policy, and Watergate. Understanding Iowans’ past opinions on these topics can help us understand how perspectives have changed and what ideas have remained popular. IPOL has also been working with UI Libraries and the Des Moines Register to restore data from dozens of Iowa Polls from the 1960s to early 1980s. More information about the project can be found here. We are working to release a full report on our findings as we analyze additional questions.