The 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll

This month's 60 Minutes/ Vanity Fair Poll probes the American psyche on topics such as whether they can explain "the public option" ( they can't) or what people will be doing at their company holiday parties if they have one to go to ( half don't). We also attempt to determine people's opinions on subjects such as the future of the U. S. Postal Service, the legitimacy of domestic militias, recovering lost artifacts, participating in national ceremonies and more. We begin with a monumental question; the greatest civilizations in history, such as Egypt, Greece and Rome, were prolific at building monuments to themselves, and America is no exception.

• If you could add a president to Mount Rushmore, which one of these would you pick?

What Do You Think?

 John F. Kennedy
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 Andrew Jackson
 Barack Obama
 Ronald Reagan
 Lyndon B. Johnson
 Dwight D. Eisenhower

It appears that the top two choices for Rushmore are split along party lines, with Democrats pulling for JFK and Republicans opting for Ronald Reagan. Poor FDR - he only got third place despite steering us through the Great Depression and most of World War II. We guess that he was hurt by the fact that many of those he helped are no longer with us, as well as having had more than three terms to accomplish it all. President Obama, in fourth place, will have to make do with his Nobel Peace Prize for now and Ike, Andy Jackson and LBJ bring up the rear. It's just as well that no one voted for LBJ - it would have been tough to carve those giant ears to scale.

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[laketahoeblue]

FDR should be the clear favorite for the next Pres on Rushmore. There's a good reason he was elected to four terms. It could be argued none of the other nominees have accomplished nearly as much, nor left the extent of legacy that FDR has. He got us through and out of the Great Depression, initiated the WPA, was our commander in chief through WWII, and created Social Security, to name just a few of his significant accomplishments. I think it is only due to the poor sense of history that many younger Americans have that FDR is not polling the most votes.

[pnut134]

Correct!

[hughjasso]

not true.
bush and bush and carter and clinton all add up to eight ears. in total. period.
besides, who knows who deserves what.
except when it comes to corporations.
and banks. and bastards with a leg in the private and a leg in the public. inappropriately worm tongues. eeech.
Also. let dead people die, especially those named jackson.
as far as mt. rushmore, give it some interest. put geronimo up there. he's not dead yet.
second thought, how about norman cousins or john lennon. make a statute of either of them.
why honor past presidents anyway -- there's only one or two or partly a third in the whole bunch.

[riteon]

Simple Obama doesn't deserve to be in that company. He has done more damage to our country in 11 months than Carter, Bush, Clinton & Bush have done in 20 ears

[betty1122]

Who put Obama on this list are the crazy?? What has he done nothing... He talks gives speeches, travels all over the world, then give more speeches leaving his carbon foot print all over, what a hypocrite

[BloomieGirl]

Oh, come on, folks, the poll is flawed. Only two of the six candidates are Republicans. What was CBS News thinking?

[PLS8395]

The OLD dems were more conservative than the newer repuglicans...

[Marcos989]

After the financial market meltdown that were it not for quick worldwide stimulus action lead by the most guilty party (USA) that nearly sent the world into a modern DEPRESSION, the Savings & Loans scandals, the complete lack of regulation that began with Greenspan/Reagan and the succcesive 3 presidents I can hardly see a vote for Reagan. His philosophy literally nearly destroyed this country.
Gorbachev made the decision to not support the brutality of the Eastern European Communists satelite dictators in power not Reagan, without that DECISION we would have simply had more Hungarian movements crushed.
Reagan was a disaster but it will take another 50 years to get rid of the blind emotionalism. Less time to forget his movies.

[pnut134]

And the worst part of Reaganism is that Conservatives continue to believe his ideology works. Conservatives/Republicans have destroyed America and they continue to follow the same ideology. I would have at least some respect for them if they admitted this and changed, but they have not and will not. America faces it's most danger from a continuation of Republican Conservative agendas. Intelligent Americans must never let this party come to power again or it will truly be the end of us.

[jammer1234]

You all need to wake up and smell the coffee. Then read the constitution. If you don't like that document, then get out of my country and go socialize another one. Or just go to venezuela?

[briannorwood]

Hey jackass. You sound like you are the one who should leave. You see, there are mechanisms for changing the Constitution. They are called amendments.

Slavery was included in the original Constitution. We didn't like it. So we changed it.

Women couldn't vote under the original Constitution. We didn't like that either. So we changed it.

Now, if only we could pass an amendment against ignorance...

[jammer1234]

Fatesrider,
I guess liberal idiots feel pressure from their computer monitors to vote along with others. I guess you would say the same thing if it was Obummer voted first.

[pnut134]

49% of Liberals are college educated, 26% have some Post Graduate school.

Only 19% of Conservatives are college educated, with only 3% having any Post Graduate schooling.

Guess again fool!

[Fatesrider]

Just as a point of interest here... People are generally sheep. They will often try to go along with what other people say. Having the current results showing when people answer the questions will skew the results much more than doing a blind survey where the results of that particular question are only revealed after the person taking the survey has answered.

The reason people do this is due to their desire to fit in and/or seek the approval of others. If they think they have a popular viewpoint, they think they'll be seen as better, more popular or something along those lines. CBS, next time you do a poll, reveal the answers after the person taking it has already answered. That way, you get a more accurate reflection of what those who are taking the poll (which is already hardly scientific, but may have some elements of validity) are thinking.

[Marcos989]

Very true....Having the current results showing when people answer the questions will skew the results much more than doing a blind survey where the results of that particular question are only revealed after the person taking the survey has answered.

[PhelpsRU1]

Most Americans don't need the republicans "idiot light" in their faces again to not jump out of the so called frying pan and into the republicans created fire "again", there has been nothing different from the republicans and their tunnel view crap on every thing over the last 40 plus years! The republicans had 12 years this time around since reagan to screw up our economy again with newt's "CON-tract" with America and now they believe President Obama and the democrats should be able to fix their criminal activities over the last 11 months when they had 12 years to screw the American peoples economy over... Get behind our President and give him your support and tell those fanatics republicans in DC to get off their ass's and help clean-up the mess they made, but their hoping you Americans are stupid enough to forget who made the mess to begain with! But the republican party don't want things to get better for you and or me, they want corporate rule, 40,000 Americans die every years due to not being able to buy and or afford heatlh care, open your eyes and tell us who really cares!

Corporate america earned 300 billions profit last years thru Heatlh care, understand?, that's after every thing has be paid! Malpractice cost them about ten billion last year... now do the math... who's screwing whom? Tort reform is a republican smoke screen.. any saving will only go back into corporate america's pockets, talk about commies who want to take all our rights away to recover damages from doctors who screw-up... you may want to forfeit your rights to the corporate insurance bastards to set a price on what you get, but not me... and you republicans say the left is a Communist movement! Then will have republicabs with their endless invocations of the virtues of private enterprise, individual entrepreneurship and "self-reliance" that the republicans hold up as their flag that is used to demonize what "their delusional minds think is socialism" and defend a system of health care in America that now exploits the vast majority for the benefit of a financial elite. Obama has exposed the republicans and their ways as frauds and which is why they are attacking the Democrats lies. When it comes to republicans corporate big business friends big capital, losses are socialized/paid by us American tax payers! Only corporate profits remain private, these last two stimulus/bail outs happened because the republicans under bush let their rich corporate criminals friends steal trillions of dollars from America's economy and walk away free!

And should you believe that some how all these issues faceing America just popped up over night or with in the last few years, hey I have some ocean front property to sell you in Arizona! Indeed America, the republicans are hoping and praying you will drink their tea once again and give them another bite at the American Apple that they left rotting at the end of their last rule over American with bush jr and the same thing happened at the end of the reagan bush rule, do your own home work and learn the real truth! The republican party 20% club are the real communists nowadays, every thing they have done and are doing now is to screw the American public over and give all power to their corporate cronie friends who buy them their house and senate seats! America, letting the republican party have any real power or say over our country again will only lead to the down fall of our Home/American! Yes they point that finger at the democrats trying to blame them for the state of our economie, "LOL, this is not kindergarten where they can lie and not expect anyone to know it... It's very obvious the republicans will not take any responsibility for anything that has their finger prints all over it, but hey their is three fingers on that hand pointing right back at them...