New Poll Shows Most Americans Admire America's Founding, But Reject Its Ideas

New polling released by Discovery Institute in time for Presidents Day reveals that most Americans still admire the American Founding.

SEATTLE, Feb. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- "The death of American patriotism appears to have been greatly exaggerated," says political scientist Dr. John West, author of the new report How Americans View the American Founding. "Despite a torrent of negativity in recent years about America's Founders, most Americans still revere them."

However, fewer than 4 in 10 agree with America's Founders that our rights come from God, and less than half can identify the Declaration of Independence as the source of the words "all men are created equal."

"Many Americans today reject the Founders' beliefs when it comes to limited government, representative government, and our rights coming from God," West added. "We have a lot of work to do if we want our fellow Americans to appreciate some of the most important ideals of the American Founding."

How Americans View the American Founding was just released by Discovery Institute for America's 250th birthday celebration this year, the report presents data from two new national surveys of 2,500 American adults (margin of error +/- 2 percent).

John West is Vice President of Discovery Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan research and education organization headquartered in Seattle. In addition to authoring the new report, West has a book coming out in March titled Endowed by Our Creator that explores the truth and continuing relevance of the Declaration of Independence for today.

Findings from the Discovery Institute report include:

The full report can be downloaded for free at https://EndowedByOurCreator.com/survey.

SOURCE Discovery Institute