Trust in government lowest since Nixon era, poll shows
Just 43 percent of Americans trust the executive branch of the federal government, according to a new Gallup survey, marking the lowest level of trust in the executive branch since 1974, the year President Richard Nixon resigned.
Even worse, trust in the legislative and judicial branches are both at all-time lows -- just 28 percent of Americans trust the legislative branch, while 61 percent trust the judicial branch.
The Gallup survey, conducted Sept. 4-7, surveyed 1,017 adults nationwide and has a four-point margin of error. Gallup has been surveying Americans' trust in government since 1972.
Trust in the executive branch was highest in the poll's first year, when it stood at 73 percent. Trust sunk to 40 percent in the months before Nixon's resignation. In 2002, following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it reached 72 percent. However, trust fell to 42 percent by the end of President George W. Bush's presidency. It rose again at the start of President Obama's first term.
Americans typically have the lowest level of trust in the legislative branch, though as recently as 2007, half of the nation said they had a great deal or fair amount of trust in Congress. Trust started to drop significantly after that, as the economy worsened and partisan gridlock increased.
