About The Oldest Pollster In America
It pioneered modern statistical survey methods
A pollster is a person or organization that conducts polls or surveys to gather public opinions, attitudes, or preferences on various topics such as politics, social issues, or consumer behavior. They analyze and interpret the data to provide insights or predictions based on the survey results.
The oldest pollster in America is the Gallup Organization. It is self-described as the oldest global polling organization. Washingtonian defines it as America’s oldest legacy polling firm. Cornell University states public opinion polling began in the 1930s with Gallup as one of the handful of researchers.
The Gallup Organization pioneered modern statistical survey methods and gained prominence by correctly predicting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s victory in the 1936 presidential election, challenging the flawed Literary Digest poll.
The origins of Gallup Poll trace back to 1935, when George H. Gallup, a statistician and journalist, established the American Institute of Public Opinion in Princeton, New Jersey. The organization's first office was on 114 Nassau Street in Princeton. This was the headquarters from which George Gallup first launched his syndicated poll.
George Gallup was born on November 18, 1901, in Jefferson, Iowa. He earned degrees from the University of Iowa and went on to teach at Drake, Northwestern, and Columbia Universities before pursuing his groundbreaking career in public opinion research. He passed away in 1984 and was buried in Princeton Cemetery on July 26 of that year.
His early career included a role at Young & Rubicam in 1932, where he developed the first nationwide radio audience measurement. His first polling for politics was for his mother-in-law, Ola Babcock Miller, who was running for Iowa Secretary of State in 1932. He also created methods for assessing advertising effectiveness that later extended into Hollywood box office forecasts in the 1940s.
A pivotal moment came in 1936 when Gallup correctly predicted Franklin D. Roosevelt’s victory over Alfred Landon, contradicting the erroneous predictions of The Literary Digest. This success underscored Gallup’s innovative sampling techniques, which aimed for demographic representation across states, enhancing the accuracy of public sentiment measurement.
Time magazine, in March 1936, lauded Gallup’s data as "probably as accurate a sample of public sentiment as is available," cementing its reputation. A significant milestone occurred in 1988 when Gallup was acquired by Selection Research, Inc. (SRI), based in Lincoln, Nebraska.
This acquisition marked a shift toward business and marketing research, developing surveys for customer satisfaction and total quality management, reflecting its adaptability to evolving research needs.
The organization serves over 4,000 organizations through its workplace performance platform, offering tools like the Q12 employee engagement survey and Clifton Strengths assessment, the latter taken by over 34 million people to identify top strength areas.
Gallup’s flagship Gallup World Poll continues to measure global trends, providing insights into engagement, well-being, and productivity, with recent reports like the "State of the Global Workplace: 2025 Report" emphasizing the role of managers in addressing low engagement, which is seen as holding back global productivity.
Beyond workplace consulting, Gallup provides unbiased news and insights based on national and global public opinion research, covering business, political, social, and educational issues, as seen on its news platform.
Its legacy of integrity and independence, recognized by Life Magazine in 1990 as one of The 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th century and by The Atlantic in 2006 as one of The 100 Most Influential Americans of All Time, has made Gallup a trusted global brand.
Today, Gallup is a global analytics and advisory firm grounded in public opinion research and has over 85 years of experience. It employs more than 2,000 professionals across 30 offices worldwide, headquartered at 901 F Street, Washington, D.C.