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Reagan's Cabinet Appointments Get Positive Ratings from the Public

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Reagan's Cabinet Appointments Get Positive Ratings from the Public The Harris Survey For Release: Thursday AM, January 22nd, 1981 1981 #7 ISSN 0273-1037 REAGAN'S CABINET APPOINTMENTS GET POSITIVE RATINGS FROM THE PUBLIC By Louis Harris A 52-34 percent majority of Americans gives President Ronald Reagan positive marks for his Cabinet appointments. The prevailing belief is that an incoming president should have a chance to name his own people to his team, and they should be permitted to try their hand at solving governmental problems over an initial period of time. Some partisan strains still carryover from the election, however, and the Reagan Cabinet will soon be subject to criticism if its performance does not meet the high expectations people have set for it. For example, those who voted for Carter in the last election give the new Cabinet negative marks by 49-38 percent, as do liberals by 50-37 percent. But the majority of Reagan voters, along with Republicans and independents, give the new President high scores on his overall Cabinet selections. There are some wide variations in the public response to the Cabinet, however, as shown by the results of this latest Harris Survey of 1,499 adults nationwide. Four appointments receive broad acceptance: --U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick's nomination leads the list, with a 57-27 percent majority that thinks her appointment was sound and right. This is a reflection of people's desire to have more women in prominent government positions. --A 55-27 percent majority gives President Reagan high marks for naming Samuel Pierce, a black New York lawyer, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Considering the fact that most people were not familiar with Pierce, it is apparently the idea of having a black in the Cabinet that strikes a positive response. --By 52-31 percent, a majority is pleased with the appointment of Donald Regan, former head of the Wall Street brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, as the new Treasury Secretary. --By 51-38 percent, a majority gives President Reagan positive scores on his appointment of General Alexander Haig as the new Secretary of State. The Haig appointment, of course, was the subject of the most intense hearings in the history of the U.S. Senate for the confirmation of a Secretary of State. A substantial 66-27 percent majority of Americans favored Haig being confirmed by the Senate. His service as military commander of NATO and his experience in the White House, first as Henry Kissinger's assistant and then as chief of staff under President Nixon in his final days, turned out to be more positive factors than negative ones, according to the people. Three other Reagan appointments are viewed favorably by a plurality, but not a majority, of the public: --The naming of Edwin Meese as the chief White House spokesman receives a 43-30 percent positive rating. --The appointment of William French Smith, the President's personal lawyer, as Attorney General, is rated 43-36 percent positive. --The naming of Caspar Weinberger, former head of HEW in the Nixon Cabinet, as Secretary of Defense gets a bare 41-40 percent positive response from Americans. Although people do not have specific negative opinions about Weinberger, a number question his experience in the defense area. Only one of the Reagan Cabinet appointments tested receives a negative rating, and that by a narrow margin: (over) THE HARRIS SURVEY January 22nd, 1981 -2­ --By 42-40 percent, a plurality of Americans is negative about the naming of James Watt as the new Secretary of the Interior. Watt has a background of representing business-oriented public law firm efforts which environmentalists have taken sharp exception to. Reservations about Watt seem to be fairly widespread across the country. It will be interesting to see just how much of the controversy will continue as he assumes the job of Interior Secretary. It is significant that the overall assessment of the Reagan Cabinet appointments comes up 52-34 percent positive, better than the ratings on some selections made. Evidently, most Americans believe that the fact that the appointments were made by Ronald Reagan is a good enough reason to see the nominees confirmed. This thinking reflects the instinct of the public to allow a new president to pick his own people, and also is a sure sign that Americans want the honeymoon period to continue into the future as the new President takes over the reins of government. TAB L E S Between January 2nd and 7th, the Harris Survey asked a cross section of 1,499 adults nationwide by telephone: "Now let me ask you about President-elect Reagan's Cabinet appointment. How would you rate his appointment of (READ EACH ITEM)--would you say it was an excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor appointment?" RATINGS OF REAGAN'S CABINET APPOINTMENTS Positive* Negative Not sure % % % Jeane Kirkpatrick, a woman political scientist, as U.S. Representative to the U.N. 57 27 16 Samuel Pierce, a black lawyer, as Secretary of HUD 55 27 18 Donald Regan, head of Merrill Lynch brokerage firm, as Secretary of the Treasury 52 31 17 The Cabinet as a whole 52 34 14 General Alexander Haig, former commander of NATO, as Secretary of State 51 38 11 Edwin Meese as his chief White House spokesman 43 30 27 William French Smith, a California lawyer, as Attorney General 43 36 21 Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, as Secretary of Defense 41 40 19 James Watt, a Colorado lawyer involved with business on environmental issues, as Secretary of the Interior 40 42 18 *Positive=excellent and pretty good Negative=only fair and poor (cl 1981 The Chicago Tribune World Rights Reserved Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc. 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 812101 .
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