George Horace Gallup
(1901–84)

George Horace GallupAnecdote...

The Gallup poll conducted before the presidential election of 1948 wrongly predicted a win for Thomas E. Dewey. Shortly after the announcement of Harry Truman's victory, Gallup was stopped by a policeman for driving down a one-way street in the wrong direction. On reading the name on Gallup's driving license, the policeman grinned broadly and exclaimed, "Wrong again!"


View the famous photo of Truman holding the newspaper predicting Dewey's victory.


Quote-worthy...

Icould prove God statistically. Take the human body alone-the chances that all the functions of an individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity. —George Horace Gallup


Biographical Note...

U.S. statistician, founder of the American Institute of Public Opinion (1935) at Princeton, NJ. Polls are conducted by the institute and its British counterpart to measure voter sentiment and gauge the national mood on various issues. They are called Gallup polls after their founder.

More Information...

READ about The Gallup Organization and how it conducts its polls. Find out how 1000 people can represent all Americans. Then read a short BIOGRAPHY of George Gallup.