The Iran-Contra disclosure sharply dropped Reagan’s poll ratings across major pollsters

Evidence

These remarkable revelations immediately took over the national news: suddenly, and dramatically, Nicaragua and aid to the Contras were the focus of front-page stories (see Figure 8.1). Such news was not good for President Reagan’s popularity. Figure 8.2 presents results from polls conducted by Gallup, ABC with the Washington Post, and CBS with the New York Times. All three register sharp declines in public support for President Reagan’s performance, roughly coincident with the Iran-Contra revelation. It is impossible to estimate from these data how much of the decline in Reagan’s popularity should be traced directly to disclosure of the Iran-Contra connection alone, but it is clear that the events of November significantly shook citizens’ confidence in their president. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1573