------- THE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION
ESTABLISHED AND OPERATED BY FIELD RESEARCH CORPORATION SINCE 1946
San Francisco Headquarters
Los Angeles Office
234 Front Street
3142 Wilshire Boulevard
San Francisco 94111
(415) 392-5763
Mervin D. Field, Director
Robert Heyer, Editor
t
Survey RLibrary
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Los Angeles 90005
(213) 385-7474
94720
Release 11809
For release FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1974
MAJORITY OF PUBLIC WANTS NIXON
TO RESIGN OR HAVE CONGRESS BRING
CHARGES AND TAKE IMPEACHMENT VOTE
IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is subject to re­
vocation if publication or broadcast takes place before
release date or if contents of report are divulged to
persons outside of subscriber staff prior to release datE
by Mervin D. Field
Many people in California today -- almost half -- believe that President Nixon should
face impeachment charges as a result of Watergate and its aftermath.
he should resign.
Another one in four believE
Fewer than one in four persons thinks the investigations should be dropped.
A large majority of the people feel President Nixon is obstructing the Watergate inves­
tigation, and the prevailing belief now is that the President had at least some idea of what his
subordinates were doing.
A substantial number are ready to believe that he approved of, or even
took an active part in planning, what was done.
These are the findings of a recent public opinion survey made by The California Poll
among a cross-section of the adult population of California.
Interviews with 1179 people were
conducted during February 2 through February 11.
~
The California public as a whole takes a rather stern view of the President's role in
Watergate and other matters involving White House staff wrongdoing.
Just 9% of the public endol
Nixon's statement that he knew nothing about the Watergate activities while they were being plat
ned, carried out, and subsequently covered up.
Rather, the public sees Nixon having some definj
involvement in the affair, including belief that he took an active part in planning it (15%), tl
he knew about it and approved it (35%), or that he had some idea of what was going on (39%).
amounts to 89% who do not believe Nixon's statements that he was innocent of any knowledge
abou~
what was happening.
Statewide
Nixon's
He
He
He
He
No
involvement in Watergate -­
took active part in planning
knew and approved, but no personal part
had some idea of what was going on
knew nothing at all about it
opinion
15%
35
39
9
2
The President has also said that he is cooperating with the various investigative
bodies, but today most people (69%) believe the opposite, namely that he is obstructing the
investigation.
Just 16% think he is helping all he can.
Statewide
Nixon's role in the investigation
Helping all he can
Obstructing investigation
Neither, staying neutral
No opinion
16%
69
11
4
(MORE)
The California Poll was founded in 1946 as a medium for promoting public opinion research. The California Poll is completely independent of all political parties and candidates. It is operated by
field Research Corporation_ Its sole purpose is to report public opinion accurately and objectively. financial support for the Poll comes from newspapers and television stations that have exclusive
rights within the city of publication. The Poll utilizes accepted scientific sampling and Questioning procedures in obtaining the data reported in its releases_ Representative samples of adults are
interviewed at periodic intervals on socially important Questions of the day and election issues. Proportionate numbers of people of both sexes, from all parts of the state, from different sized
communities, and of all age, economic, political, and occupation groups are included in the samples.
TI
-.--­ - - - - - - - - - •
The
C~fornia
Poll - page 2
On the crucial matter of the President's tenure, most of the public thinks either th
Nixon should resign outright (24%) or that Congress should bring charges against him and take a
vote of impeachment (46%).
Just about one person in five (23%) thinks Congress should drop fur
investigations of Nixon.
Statewide
What Nixon/Congress should do:
Nixon should resign
24%
Congress should bring charges and take
an impeachment vote
46
Congress should drop further investigations
23
Q,ther, don't know
7
There are marked differences of opinion by political party affiliation about the deB
of President Nixon's involvement and what should be done about it.
A large majority of Cali­
fornia rank-and-file Democrats (67%) feel he took an active part or at least approved the plans
while only a few Republicans (21%) feel he was this much implicated.
A majority of Republicans
however, concede that he probably had some idea of what was going on.
On the question of impeachment, Democrats and Republicans are more nearly in agreemE
that charges should be brought and the matter settled.
ever, would like to see the investigations dropped.
The largest number of Republicans, how­
One in three California Democrats wants t(
see the President resign.
Democrats
Nixon's involvement:
Active part in planning
Knew and approved but no personal part
Had some idea of what was going on
Knew nothing about it
No opinion
Republicans
24%
43
28
55
3
20
2
4
34%
10%
3%
18
What Nixon/Congress should do:
Nixon resign
Congress bring impeachment charges
and take a vote
Congress drop further investigations
Other, don't know
49
38
11
6
42
10
In addition to his Watergate troubles, Nixon has suffered a marked loss in public
support for the job he is doing as President.
(An earlier article by The California Poll repo
that the President's "good job" rating index had slipped to an unprecedented low of 18%.
"poor job" rating had soared from 16% in 1970 to 47% today.)
His
While this negative trend can be
traced in large part to public concerns about rampant inflation and effects of the current oil
shortage, there is no question that there is also an underlying loss of confidence in the
President's credibility and leadership capabilities as a result of Watergate.
(MORE)
- • - - - - -- - - - - - - •
The California Poll - page 3
Another factor which may be responsible for increased public receptivity to the
idea of Nixon's leaving the Presidency before his term expires is the presence in office of a
more acceptable alternative in the person of Gerald Ford, the new Vice President.
When Spiro
Agnew was Vice President, many people were uneasy or negative about his ability to be President
even before his involvement in the Maryland bribery scandal came to light.
~igher
esteem than Agnew was by voters of all persuasions.
Ford is held in muc
Today, even a majority of Democrats
in California concede that Ford would do at least a "fair job" and relatively few feel he would
be a "po()r" presidenL
All
voters
Believe as President
Ford would do:
-
Democrats
Republicans
Good job
21%
16%
30%
Fair job
37
39
34
Poor job
12
16
6
No opinion
30
29
30
-30­
COPYRIGHT 1974 BY FIELD RESEARCH CORPORATION.
FOR PUBLICATION BY SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
- - - - - - - - •
THE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION
ESTABLISHED AND OPERATED BY FIELD RESEARCH CDRPORATION SINCE 1946
San FranCiSCO Headquarters
145 Montgomery Street
San Francisco 94104
392-5766
LOS Angeles Office
3142 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles 90005
385-5259
Mervin D. Field. Director
Robert Heyer. Editor
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SURVEY
Release 11809
DATES AND TIME OF INTERVIEWING
February 2 through February 11, 1974.
Saturday and Sunday.
Late afternoop. .and evenings. all day
POPULATION COVERED
Represenative cross-section of California adult public'
OVERALL SIZE OF SAMPLE
Total interviews:
1179
Democrats
Republicans
Others
630
380
169
Southern California
Northern California
693
486
THE QUESTIONS ASKED
"As you know. there has been a lot of news about Watergate and other charges of
wrongdoing by members of Nixon's staff. Which of the statements on this card
best describes what you believe President Nixon's own personal involvement has
been -­
.
He took an active part in planning it all
He knew and approved. but didn't take a personal part in it
He had some idea of what was going on. but didn't know any of the details
He knew nothing at all about it"
"Do you think President Nixon is doing everything he should be doing tp help the
investigators bring out the truth. or do you feel he is obstructing the investigation?"
"Some people have said they think President Nixon should resign because of the con­
troversy about his involvement in Watergate and other matters. Other people say he
should not resign. and that it is up to Congress to bring charges against him and
take a vote on impeachment if they believe he has done wrong. Which one of· the
statements on this card beat describes what you think should be done
==­
President Nixon should resign
Congress should bring charges against Nixon and take a vote of impeachment
Congress should drop further investigations of Nixon
Other
"
"If it came about that Vice President Gerald Ford became President. what kind of a
job do you believe he would do as President -- a good job. a fair job. or a poor job?"
The California Poll was founded in 1946 as a medium for promoting public opinion research. The California Poll is completely Independent of all political parties and candidates. Its sole purpose is to report
public opinion accurately and objectively. Financial support for the Poll comes from newspapers and television stations that have exclusive rights within the city of pUblication. The Poll utilizes accepted
scientific sampling and questioning procedures in obtaining the data reported in its releases. Representative samples of adults are interviewed at perIOdic intervals on election issues and other socially
important questions of the day. Proportionate numbers of people of both sexes, from all parts of the state, from different sized communities, and of all age, economic, political. and occupation groups are
included in the samples. Major surveys are made with samples of 1,000 or more respondents. Interim surveys sometimes are made with smaller samples of not less than 600 interviews.
•
SURVEY METHOD
Interviews are made face-to-face with respondents in their homes. Sampl ed homes are drawn
in accordance with a probability sample design that gives all areas of the state and all neigh­
borhoods properly proportionate chance to be included. More than 200 sampl ing points are used.
A randomly selected address designates the starting point of a cluster of six to ten interviews. Up
to three calls are made on each sampled oddress. One adult per household is interviewed, selected
by a systematic procedure to provide a proper balance by age and sex.
SAMPLING RELIABILITY
The sample is designed to be self-weighted with respect to population factors, i.e., sampling
points are selected with probabil ity in proportion to population. Socio-economic and demo­
graphic characteristics and political and social opinions are also therefore assumed to be
represented proportionately. Standard weighting procedures are used to adjust the final sample
to population parameters whenever key variables deviate because of sampling variability or
other factors.
The samplir,lg reliability of data from this sample is shown below. These figures represent an
estimate of average sampling tolerances at the 95% confidence level; that is, the chances are
about 19 out of 20 that iF the whole populatio·n of the state had been surveyed with the same
questionnaire, the results of the complete census would not be found to deviate from the
obtairled survey findings by more than plus or minus the amount shown below.
Sample size
PI us/minus sampl ingtolerance
(i n percentage poi nts)
1300
3.0
1000
3.5
3.9
800
600
4.5
400
200
5.5
100
50
7.7
11.0
16.0
POLL OPERATION AND SPONSORSHIP
The California Poll is owned and operated by Field Research Corporation, an independent
national pub Iic opinion and marketing research agency with headquarters .in San Francisco.
The Poll was founded in 1946 and has been published continuously since that time. The
Poll is non-partisan.
The cost of operating The California Poll is Linderwritten by a syndicate of 10 newspapers
and three television stations in California. Each one pays an annual fee for exclusive
publication or broadcast rights in its area. The Poll does not accept fees from any candidates,
pol itical parties, or individuals who have any interest in the data being publ ished.