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President Clinton: Scandals and Investigations, continued
All data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

Lewinsky Scandal polls conducted through October (see below)

Recent impeachment polls
Impeachment polls conducted November-December

 

ABC News Poll. September 21, 1998. N=523 adults nationwide.

.

ALL

 Heard/Read About
Videotaped
Testimony
% %
"As you may know, the video of Clinton's grand jury testimony shows prosecutors asking about details of Clinton's sexual activity with Lewinsky. In the tape, Clinton says he had improper sexual activity with Lewinsky but refused to discuss any of the details of that activity. Do you think Clinton was right not to talk about these sexual details or wrong to not talk about them?"
Right 70 68
Wrong 27 30
No opinion 3 2

.
"Do you think the prosecutors were right to ask about these sexual details or wrong to ask about the details?"
Right 41 44
Wrong 59 55
No opinion 1 1

.
"Do you think the words 'sexual relations' refer just to sexual intercourse or do you think the words 'sexual relations' refer to both sexual intercourse and other sexual activity, such as oral sex?"
Just intercourse 13 14
Other activity as well 81 81
No opinion 6 5

.
"Does Clinton's videotaped testimony make you more likely to think Clinton should leave office, less likely to think he should leave, or what?"
More likely 37 45
Less likely 39 43
Didn't see or hear (vol.) 18 5
No opinion 6 6

 

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. August 19-21, 1998. N=1,015 adults nationwide.

.
"How did you feel when you first heard that Clinton had admitted he misled the country about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky? Did you feel [see below] or not? How about [see below]?"
Yes No No
Opinion
% % %
"Bored" 45 53 2
"Disgusted" 45 54 1
"Relieved" 39 57 4
"Sad" 37 62 1
"Embarrassed" 36 64 0
"Angry" 33 66 1
"Surprised" 18 81 2

 

ABC News Poll. Latest: Conducted Monday night, August 17, 1998.

.
8/17/98 8/15-16/98
% %
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling his job as president?"
Approve 61 62
Disapprove 36 33
No opinion 3 4

.
"Clinton said that he did nothing to obstruct justice in the investigation of his relationship with Lewinsky. Do you believe him, or not?"
Yes 41
No 52
No opinion 8
.
"Given what you know about this issue, do you think Clinton should remain in office as president, or should he resign the presidency?"
Remain in office 68
Resign 28
No opinion 4
.
"If he does not resign, do you think Congress should or should not impeach Clinton and remove him from office?"
Should impeach 25
Should not 69
No opinion 6
.
"Do you think the investigation of this issue should end now, or should the investigation continue in order to find out if Clinton broke any laws by trying to conceal the affair?"
Investigation should end 69
Investigation should continue 29
No opinion 2
.
N 587 1,023

 

American Viewpoint (R). October 9-13, 1998. N=800 likely voters nationwide.

.
"Do you favor or oppose the House of Representatives' action to begin a formal impeachment inquiry against Bill Clinton?"
%
Favor 43
Oppose 52
Don't know 4

.
"And do you agree or disagree that Congress has been fair and impartial in reviewing charges against Bill Clinton?"
%
Agree 47
Disagree 47
Don't know/Refused 6

 

CBS News/New York Times Poll. October 12-13, 1998. N=926 adults nationwide.

.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Last week, the full U.S. House of Representatives voted to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Clinton. Do you approve or disapprove of Congress beginning an impeachment inquiry?"
Approve 45 75 22 47
Disapprove 53 24 75 50
Don't know/No answer 2 1 3 3

.
Asked of registered voters (N=794): "If your representative voted for beginning an impeachment inquiry, would that make you more likely to vote to reelect your representative, less likely to reelect him or her, or wouldn't your representative's vote on impeachment make much difference to you one way or the other?"
More likely to reelect 21 37 11 18
Less likely 20 7 30 19
No difference 55 52 53 59
Don't know/No answer 4 4 6 4

.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the House Judiciary Committee is handling the impeachment matter?"
Approve 37 58 24 36
Disapprove 48 26 62 49
Don't know/No answer 15 16 14 15

 

CBS News Poll. October 7-8, 1998. N=997 adults nationwide.

.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
Asked on Oct. 8 only (N=526): "The full U.S. House of Representatives voted to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Clinton. Do you approve or disapprove of Congress beginning an impeachment inquiry?"
Approve 46 72 27 51
Disapprove 50 26 69 46
Don't know/No answer 4 2 4 3

.
Asked on Oct. 8 only (N=526): "If your representative voted for beginning an impeachment inquiry, would that make you more likely to vote to reelect your representative, less likely to reelect him or her, or wouldn't your representative's vote on impeachment make much difference to you one way or the other?"
More likely to reelect 20 35 10 17
Less likely 20 9 26 22
No difference 56 52 58 56
Won't vote (vol.) 1 0 1 1
Don't know/No answer 3 4 5 4

.
"Given what you know right now, do you think Congress should censure President Clinton -- that is, should Congress vote to publicly reprimand President Clinton for what he has done -- or don't you think Congress should censure him?"
Should 54 57 54 53
Should not 34 32 35 34
Don't know/No answer 12 11 11 13

.
"Given what you know right now, do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton resigned from office, or do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton finished his term as president?"
Resigned 28 51 10 29
Finished term 68 44 87 66
Don't know/No answer 4 5 3 5

.
"Just from the way you feel right now, do you think President Clinton's actions are serious enough to warrant his being impeached and removed from the presidency, or not?"
Are serious enough 31 59 12 30
Are not 64 37 83 65
Don't know/No answer 5 4 5 5

.
"Of all the options available to Congress, which one do you favor the most: censuring or publicly reprimanding President Clinton, OR impeaching President Clinton, OR dropping the matter?"
Censure/Reprimand 30 26 34 28
Impeachment 27 51 9 27
Drop the matter 41 21 56 41
Don't know/No answer 2 2 1 3

 

CBS News Poll. October 3-4, 1998. N=902 adults nationwide.

.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the House Judiciary Committee is handling the matter involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky?"
Approve 34 54 22 31
Disapprove 53 36 65 55
Don't know/No answer 13 10 13 14

.
"Given what you know right now, do you think Congress should censure President Clinton -- that is, should Congress vote to publicly reprimand President Clinton for what he has done -- or don't you think Congress should censure him?"
Should 51 66 39 50
Should not 38 25 47 39
Don't know/No answer 11 9 14 11

.
"(Next week) the House Judiciary Committee will vote on whether or not to recommend to the entire U.S. House of Representatives that a formal impeachment inquiry of President Clinton be conducted. Do you think the House Judiciary Committee should or should not begin a formal impeachment inquiry of  President Clinton?"
Should 38 65 13 40
Should not 56 29 83 51
Don't know/No answer 6 5 4 9

.
"Given what you know right now, do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton resigned from office, or do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton finished his term as president?"
Resigned 30 54 12 29
Finished term 67 42 86 68
Don't know/No answer 3 4 2 3

.
"Just from the way you feel right now, do you think President Clinton's actions are serious enough to warrant his being impeached and removed from the presidency, or not?"
Are serious enough 36 66 13 35
Are not 60 31 84 58
Don't know/No answer 4 3 3 7

 

CBS News/New York Times Poll. September 22-23, 1998. N=960 adults nationwide.

.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you think Bill Clinton shares the moral values most Americans try to live by, or doesn't he?"
Does 30 17 41 30
Does not 63 81 50 61
Don't know/No answer 7 2 9 9

.
"Do you think of this whole situation more as a private matter having to do with Bill Clinton's personal life, or more as a public matter having to do with Bill Clinton's job as president?"
Private 65 40 83 67
Public 29 53 15 26
Both equally (vol.) 4 6 1 4
Don't know/No answer 2 1 1 3

.
"Do you think Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr has mostly conducted an impartial investigation to find out if anything illegal occurred, or has mostly conducted a partisan investigation to damage Bill Clinton?"
Impartial 27 49 11 25
Partisan 64 40 82 64
Don't know/No answer 9 11 7 11

.
"Do you think the time, effort and money spent on the Independent Counsel's investigation has been worth it, or not?"
Worth it 18 34 5 19
Not worth it 78 62 93 74
Don't know/No answer 4 4 2 7

.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the House Judiciary Committee is handling the matter involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky?"
Approve 35 56 20 34
Disapprove 54 34 67 55
Don't know/No answer 11 10 13 11

.
"Do you think the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives should begin holding hearings to determine whether or not to impeach President Clinton, or don't you think it's necessary?"
Should begin hearings 31 51 17 30
Not necessary 65 43 80 66
Depends (vol.) 1 2 0 1
Don't know/No answer 3 4 3 3

 

CBS News Poll. September 21, 1998. N=696 adults nationwide who had previously been polled by CBS September 19-20; includes 384 who said they watched at least some of Clinton's videotaped testimony.

.

ALL

 Watched
Videotaped
Testimony
% %

.
"Do you think Bill Clinton was cooperative enough in answering the questions he was asked during his [grand jury] testimony, or not?"
Yes 49
No 48
Don't know/No answer 3

.
"In his testimony, do you think Bill Clinton mostly answered the questions he was asked, or do you think he mostly tried to avoid answering the questions?"
Answered 32
Avoided 63
Don't know/No answer 5

.
"Did Bill Clinton's testimony make you think better of him, worse of him, or didn't it affect your opinion of Bill Clinton?"
Better 7
Worse 29
No effect 62
Don't know/No answer 2

.
"Do you think it was necessary for the House Judiciary Committee to release President Clinton's videotaped testimony to the public, or don't you think that was necessary?"
Necessary 27 32
Not necessary 72 68
Don't know/No answer 1 0

.
"Do you think the House Judiciary Committee released the videotaped testimony mostly so others can judge whether Bill Clinton committed perjury, or mostly to embarrass and damage Bill Clinton?"
Prove perjury 39 46
Embarrass Clinton 58 52
Don't know/No answer 3 2

.
"From what you've heard or read, do you think the claims that Bill Clinton committed perjury in his testimony before the Independent Counsel's grand jury are probably true, or probably not true, or don't you know enough about it yet to say?"
Probably true 51 55
Probably not true 17 22
Don't know enough yet to say 30 21
Don't know/No answer 2 2

.
"Given what you know right now, do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton resigned from office, or do you think it would be better for the country if Bill Clinton finished his term as president?"
Resigned 38 46
Finished term 60 52
Don't know/No answer 2 2

 

CBS News/New York Times Poll. Conducted Monday night, August 17, 1998. N=403 adults nationwide who had also been polled by CBS August 11-13, 1998.

.
ALL Speech
Watchers
% %
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill Clinton is handling his job as president?"
Approve 68 69
Disapprove 27 30
Don't know/No answer 5 1

.
"Are you satisfied with what President Clinton said in his public statement tonight, or does he need to say more?"
Satisfied 58
Needs to say more 38
Don't know/No answer 4

.
"Has Bill Clinton's statement made you think better of him, worse of him, or hasn't Bill Clinton's statement affected your opinion of him one way or the other?"
Better 11
Worse 25
No effect 63
Don't know/No answer 1

.
"Now that President Clinton has testified before Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's grand jury and has made a public statement, what do you think should happen: Clinton should resign, OR, Congress should begin impeachment proceedings, OR, the matter should be dropped?"
Matter should be dropped 63 63
Clinton should resign 18 18
Begin impeachment proceedings 12 13
Don't know/No answer 7 6

.
N 403 256

 

CBS News Poll. August 6, 1998. N=784 adults nationwide who had also been polled by CBS July 28-30, 1998.

.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you think President Clinton will or will not testify truthfully before the grand jury?"
Will 54 34 74 49
Will not 33 55 18 32
Don't know/No answer 13 11 8 19

.
"After President Clinton testifies later this month, do you want him to make a statement to the public about the allegations involving Monica Lewinsky, or not?"
Yes 53 61 44 55
No 42 33 51 40
Don't know/No answer 5 6 5 5

.
"Who do you blame more for creating the current situation: Bill Clinton himself, or his political enemies?"
Clinton 39 68 18 40
Political enemies 51 23 76 48
Both equally (vol.) 3 2 2 5
The media (vol.) 1 0 0 3
Other (vol.) 1 1 1 1
Don't know/No answer 5 6 3 3

 

CBS News Poll. July 30, 1998. N=514 adults nationwide.
.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you think of this whole situation more as a private matter having to do with Bill Clinton's personal life, or more as a public matter having to do with Bill Clinton's job as president?"
Personal 64 37 80 68
Public 28 53 16 22
Both equally (vol.) 3 6 1 2
Don't know/No answer 5 4 3 8
.
"Do you think Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr is mostly conducting an impartial investigation to find out if anything illegal occurred, or is mostly conducting a partisan investigation to damage Bill Clinton?"
Impartial 26 45 12 25
Partisan 60 41 77 57
Don't know/No Answer 14 14 11 18

 

CBS News Poll. July 28, 1998. N=413 adults nationwide.
.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you want Bill Clinton to say more now about the allegations involving Monica Lewinsky, or are you satisfied to wait until the investigation into these allegations is completed, or would you be satisfied if he never said anything more about these allegations?"
More now 24 43 9 25
Wait 22 29 22 18
Never 47 25 60 50
Don't know/No answer 7 3 9 7

.
"Do you think Monica Lewinsky will testify to something that could be used to help bring criminal charges against President Clinton, or not?"
Yes 53 64 56 43
No 26 23 28 27
Don't know/No answer 21 13 16 30

 

CBS News/New York Times Poll. July 19-20, 1998. N=567 adults nationwide.
.
ALL Rep. Dem. Ind.
% % % %
"Do you think it is appropriate or not appropriate to make Secret Service agents testify about what they have seen or heard while protecting the president of the United States?"
Appropriate 36 49 22 38
Not appropriate 58 44 74 55
Don't know/No answer 6 7 4 7
.
"What about in the current investigation of President Clinton? Do you think it is appropriate or not appropriate to make Secret Service agents testify about conversations they may have heard between President Clinton and his attorneys -- conversations which are usually protected by attorney-client privilege?"
Appropriate 14 22 6 15
Not appropriate 21 25 17 21
Don't know/No answer 7 9 4 9
Not asked this question -- answered "Not appropriate" on previous question 58 44 74 55
.
"Do you think requiring Secret Service agents to testify about a president -- any president -- would interfere with their ability to effectively do their job of protecting the president, or not?" If "Yes": "Do you think that would seriously interfere, or not?"