Data restored from a 1981 Iowa Poll shows that Iowans broadly favored keeping the President in contact with the people in spite of the risk of assassination. These data come from Iowa Poll #248, a random sample survey of 1011 Iowans from April of 1981 which has been restored as part of a larger project to recover lost data from past Iowa polls.

Respondents were asked, “In view of the attempt on President Reagan’s life, would you agree or disagree with the following statement: The risk of assassination is a price that is worth paying to keep the President in contact with the people.” Respondents were given the choice to respond with “agree”, “disagree”, or “no opinion.” For context, the referenced assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life came a month before this survey. Iowans were broadly supportive of the statement, with 70.9% expressing agreement as opposed to 21.2% who disagreed and 7.8% saying they had no opinion.

Responses show notable variation in support when it comes to education. Respondents with at least one year of college education were much more supportive (77.9%) than those with a high-school or vocational education (68.4%) or no high school education (66.2%). Respondents with a high school-level education were the most opposed to the question at 24.7%, compared to 19.6% disagreement without a high school education and 16.9% with a college education. Many respondents without a high school education had no opinion (14.2%). Overall, more educated respondents were more likely to have an opinion, and more likely to agree that the President should stay in contact with the people despite assassination risks.

There was slight variation in this support between respondents from different political parties. Republicans and Independents were nearly equally supportive, with 72.5% and 71.7% respectively answering the question affirmatively. Democrats fell slightly below the other two groups at 68.5% support. Democrats were also slightly more likely to disagree (25.1%) compared to Republicans (19.1%) and Independents (20.4%) who were again closely aligned. While minor, Democrats were generally less supportive of enduring the risk of assassination to keep the President in contact with the public.

Responses also varied slightly based on where a respondent lived. Those who lived in metropolitan areas and cities show similar levels of agreement, with 72.2% and 71.9%, respectively, saying that the risk is a price worth paying. However, those who live on the farm are less likely to agree, with 66.1% saying they agree with the statement. The levels of disagreement were similar, with 20.8% of metropolitan residents, 21.5% of city residents, and 21.3% of farm residents saying they disagree that the risk is worth the price. Respondents who lived on a farm were more likely to give no opinion about the statement (12.6%), than those who lived in metropolitan areas (7.0%) and cities (6.6%). While the split was not stark, these results indicate that where an individual resides did relate to variation in their position on this topic. 

Iowa Poll #248, conducted by the Des Moines Register, was administered to a random sample of Iowans in April 1981. In addition to the questions about the assassination attempt on President Reagan, the survey asked respondents their opinions on a wide variety of topics, including personal finances, gun control, school spending, smoking habits, and the U.S. response to a hypothetical invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union. 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.