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THE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION
ESTABLISHED AND OPERATED BY FIELD RESEJIRCH CORPORATION SINCE 1946
Los Angeles Office
San Francisco Headquarters
3142 Wilshire Boulevard
234 Front Street
Los Angeles 90005
San Francisco 94111
(213) 385-7474
(415) 392-5763
Mervin D. Field, Director
Robert Heyer, Editor
4It COPYRIGHT 1974 BY FIELD RESEARCH CORPORATION.
Release tf
FOR PUBLICATION BY SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
For release MONDAY, HAY 13, 1974
816
PUBLIC OPINION HAS HARDENED AGAINST
PRESIDENT NIXON. 65% WANT HIM TO RESIGN
OR CONGRESS TO PROCEED WITH IMPEACHMENT
PROCESS
by Mervin D. Field
IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is subject
revocation if publication or broadcast takes pIs
before release date or if contents of report are
divulged to persons o~tside of subscriber staff
prior to release time.
In the aftermath of President Richard Nixon's public disclosl:re of the transcriptions
0
Watergate tape recordings, the mood of the California public has hazdened against him.
In a cross-section statewide survey of 738 adults completed between May 1 and May 7, af
President Nixon's TV address and after he made public the White House edited versions of the
Watergate tape recordings, The California Poll found that
1.
A majority of the public (55%) said they believed he knew and approved of the Water
affair, or that he took an active part in the planning.
Another one-third (32%) felt he at le,
must have had some idea of what was going on. Only 8% believed he knew nothing at all about it
2.
A large majority (69%) feels that the President is obstru::ting the Watergate invest
Just 18% feel he is helping all he can.
4Itgation.
3.
Fewer than one in five Californians (18%) thinks he is doing a good job as Presiden
The number who think he is doing a poor job is at an unprecedented h:.gh of 49%.
4.
Testing sentiment toward Nixon's resignation or impeachment, The California Poll fil
that
--41% believe President Nixon should resign or that Con9ress
should proceed with the impeachment process.
--24% feel Nixon should not resign, but feel that Congress
should proceed with the impeachment process.
--32% feel Nixon should not resign, nor should Congress
proceed with the impeachment process.
--3% have no opinion on the resignation/impeachment questions.
In sum, it appears that today about 65% of the public would like either to see a presidl
tial resignation, or to have his tenure in office decided by Congress.
Another significant indicator of the depth of anti-Nixon senti:nent among the public shm
up in the finding that today a plurality would like to see Vice President Gerald Ford, a man
hardly known by the general public a few months ago, replace Presiden': Nixon for the remainder
~this administration's term of office.
It was just 16 months ago that President Nixon in winni]
re-election carried California by a landslide vote margin.
(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 nefispapers 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 ir 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 sexlls, from all parts of the state, from different sized
communities, and of all age, economic, political, and occupation groups are included in the samples.
-".
- - - - - - - - - - - - •
The California Poll - page 2 (Release #816)
Contrasted with similar measures taken earlier this year and in 1973, today's report sh'
no diminishment and in some respects, an enlargement, of the long
h.~ld
belief by his fellow Ca
fornians that the President was much more involved in Watergate than he would admit.
The publ
disposition to see the President resign or to face up to the consequences of impeachment isgre
now than it was before.
It has been said that the President's reason for revealing the tran­
scriptions of his private conversations with his aides was the hope that they would gain him P'
support
~
0
The California Poll's findings indicate clearly that this hope has not been realized
Pro and Con Resignation Comments
Replies to the question about a presidential resignation elicit a wide range of strong
feelings from people.
Some
firmly
support the President, others express anger and outrage,
1
are fearful of the consequeh"es of the President's resigning, and others give vent to theiJ::
cynical view 9f politics.
Among about half of that portion of the public which thinks the President should resign,
there is a fairly unified feeling of condemnation of the President expressed by statements tha1
the President has done wrong, that he is guilty of a crime, or that he has used the office im­
properly.
Another significant segment, however, amounting to about one-fourth of the pro-resignatj
comments, are blaming Nixon for doing a poor job as President on mat':ers unrelated to Watergate
such as "not controlling inflation", and his failure to pay income tax.
Other pro-resignation reasons are mixed. Some feel that resignation would be "good for 1
country," that "it would save taxpayer's money," or that it "would be the decent thing for him
to do."
e
Among the segment who feel President Nixon should not resign, about four in ten are sup­
portive of the President, that is, they feel he has done a good job e.S chief executive, or thei
he has not been proven guilty and there is no proof to warrant his resignation.
Another four in ten who are against resignation do so out of fear of what might happen t
them or the country, or because they are cynical of all politicians.
Some sample remarks: "Res
nation would be bad for the country," "We elected him - there is no one to take his place," "It
nothing new, all politicians are dishonest."
About one person in ten argues against resignation because they feel President Nixon sho
be punished: "Resignation would let him off too easily."
Pro and Con Impeachment Comments
Among those who advocate Congress proceeding with the i mpeachmlmt process, about half of
them say: "It's the only way to settle the matter," "The Constitutional (legal) process must be
followed," "Public officials must answer to the people after they are elected."
Another group of comments, about one-fourth of the pro-impeachDlent total, seem to be
making a judgment that Nixon is guilty: "He's obstructing justice," "He's broken the law,"
"He's cheated and lied to the public," "He I s a crook, he can't be trus:ted."
About one-third of those opposing impeachment are supportive of the President: "He's a 9
e
President," "What he has done does not warrant impeachment," "No one can do as well as Nixon."
A few others (about one-fourth) who advocate dropping impeachment proceedings offer the
opinion that "impeachment would hurt the country."
evidence yet."
Still others feel "they don't have all the
Another small group among the anti-impeachers -- about one in ten -- express
some reluctance of having Congress decide such an important matter.
-30­
COPYRIGHT 1974 BY FIELD RESEARCH CORPORATION. FOR PUBLICATION BY SUBSCHIBERS ONLY.
..". - - - ­ - - - - - - - - •
Table 1.
"Do you feel that President Richard Nixon is doing a good job, a fair job, or a poor job
as President of the united States?"
Feel Nixon is doing
GOOD JOB.
FAIR JOB
POOR JOB
NO OPINION
0
May
1974
18%
30
49
February
1974
18%
32
47
August
1973
20%
31
44
3
5
3
May
1973
34%
27
35
4
November
1970
37%
44
16
3
Table 2.
"As you know, there has been a lot of news about Watergate and ot::ler charges of wrong­
doing by members of Nixon's staff. Which of the statements on ~~is card best describes
what you believe President Nixon's own personal involvement has ::>een -- "
STATEWIDE
Nixon's involvement in Watergate
May '74
Feb. '74
He took an active part in planning it all. 20%
15%
He knew and approved, but didn't take a
personal part in it . . . . .
35
35
He had some idea of what was going on,
but didn't know any of the details.
.32
39
He knew nothing at all about it . . . . . . 8
9
No opinion. • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . 5
2
Table 3.
"Do you think President Nixon is doing everything he should be doing to help the inves­
tigators bring out the truth about Watergate, or do you feel he i.s obstructing the
investigation?"
STATEWIDE
Nixon's role in the investigation -­
May '74
Feb. '74
He is helping all he can . . . . .
18%
16%
He is obstructing the investigation
69
69
Neither, staying neutral . • • . .
7
11
No opinion . • . . . . . . . • • . •
6
4
Table 4.
"Do you feel that President Nixon should resign from office or not?"
Statewide - May 1974
Yes, should resign from office.
NO, should not resign . . . . .
No opinion. . . . . . . . . • .
•
•
•
•
• 41%
• . . • 52
· • .
•
7
Table 5.
"Do you feel Congress should take up impeachment proceedings again:;t the President and
put it to a vote as to whether they think he should be removed f:::,om office or not?"
Yes, should take up proceedings
No, should not. . . . . . . • .
No opinion. . • . • . . . . • .
Statewide - May 1974
. . 60%
. . . . . 32
o
•
•
•
8
Table 6.
"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?"
STATEWIDE
May '74
Feb. '74
27%
2H
41
37
12
· 14
18
30
Feel Ford would do -­
GOOD JOB
FAIR JOB
POOR JOB
NO OPINION
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Table 7.
"If you had a choice today of deciding whether Richard Nixon or Gerald Ford should
be President until the next presidential election in 1976, who would you choose?"
RICHARD NIXON
GERALD FORD
NO OPINION
~i
I'
.
Statewide - May 1974
. 42%
. 46
• • • • 12
·.
I
11 - - - - - - - - •
CAllFOl1A
.
THE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION
ESTABLISHED AND OPERATED BY FIELD RESEAF:CH CORPORATION SINCE 1946
POLL
san Francisco Headquarters
145 Montgomery Street
San Francisco 94104
392-5766
Los An!l818s Office
3142 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles 90005 .
385-5259
Mervin D. Field, Director
Robert Heyer, Editor
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SURVEY
Release ~8'16
DATES AND TIME OF INTERVIEWING
May 1 through May 7, 1974.
Saturday and Sunday.
Late afternoon and eveniu:Js, all day
POPULATION COVERED
-~presentative
cross-sect:j..onof California adult public.
OVERALL SIZE OF SAMPLE
Total interviews
738
Democrats
408
Republicans
214
Others
116
Southern California
420
Northern California
318
THE QUESTIONS ASKED
(See release)
The California Poll was founded in 1946 as a medium for promoting public opinion research. The California Poll is completely independent of all political pi rties 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 perior ic 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 a!le, economic, political, and occupation groups are
Included in the samples. Major surveys are made Wilh samples of 1,000 or more respondents. Interim surveys sometimes are made with smaller samples of not less than 600 interviews.
.".
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-----------SURVEY METHOD
Interviews are made face-to-face with respondents in their homes. Sampled 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 sarr,pling points are used.
A randomly selected address designates the starting point of a cI uster of six to ten interviews, Up
to three calls are made on each sampled address. One adult per household is interviewed, selected
by a systematic procedure to provide a proper balance by age ond 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
graphi c choracteristi cs and pol iti cal and social opi nions are also therefore assumed to be
represented proportionately. Standard weighting procedures are used to adj ust the final sample
to population parameters whenever key variables deviate because of sampling variability or
other factors.
The sampling reliability of data from this sample is shown below. These figl1res represent an
estimate of average sampling tolerances at the 95% confidence level; that h, the chances are
about 19 out of 20 thot if the whole populatio'n of the state had been surveyl!d with the same
questionnaire, the results of the complete census would not be found to devi.::ste from the
obtair,ed survey findings by more than plus or minus the amount shown below.
Sample size
Plus/minus samplingtolerance
(in percentaae points)
1300
1000
800
600
3.0
3.5
3.9
400
5.5
7,7
200
100
50
4.5
11.0
16.0
POLL OPERATION AND SPONSORSHIP
The California Poll is owned and operated by Field Research Corporation, an independent
national publ ic 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 underwritten by a syndicate of 10 newspapers
and three television stations in Cal ifornia. Each one pays an annual fee for Elxclusive
publication or broadcast rights in its area. The Poll does not accept fees from any candidates,
political parties, or individuals who have any interest in the data being publ ished.