Proud to be An American
The United States of America is still unique in world history, even now after 250 years. I have said, and believe, that it is the greatest nation God ever blessed.
And regardless of the situation, regardless of how bad things are, we as Americans have justifiable pride in the country.
But over the last quarter-century, that has changed due to increased partisanship.
Gallup—the polling firm founded by Iowa native George Gallup, Sr.—annually asks respondents if they are proud to be an American. The numbers from 2001-2025 are striking.
Keep in mind this survey period began before the 9/11 terror attacks, but after the extended 2000 presidential election.
Throughout it all, Republicans have consistently been in the 85-90 percent range in saying they were proud…the low point of around 83 percent was in Joe Biden’s last year in office, and the high of 92 was last year, when Donald Trump was back in office. From W Bush, to Obama—where pride actually grew—to Trump 1, Biden, and Trump 2…consistently Republicans surveyed had sky-high levels of pride in the country.
But for Democrats who responded, it’s a different story. They started the century at the same point as Republicans, but that had dropped to 74 percent before W left office. It rose back to the low 80s in the Obama years, before cratering to 42 percent during the first Trump term…rebounding to about 60 percent during the Biden years…and falling to only 36 percent during the second Trump term.
Gallup notes that the share of Democrats who are proud to be an American rises under Democrat presidents and falls under Republican ones. Republican pride in the country remains consistent.
The difference obviously is between America as a continuing concept…and the politics of personality affecting what should be core views.
