Americans are losing confidence in the military

The editorial board of Wall Street Journal published an article last month stating that "the current era is marked by fading trust in U.S. institutions. But confidence in one pillar has held up: the military. But now, even that is eroding."

"Many Americans feel that the military is no longer an institution that runs on excellence, merit and individual submission to a larger cause" the editorial board stated.

According to an annual survey released by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute on National Defense, the U.S. public's confidence in the military is below 50%. This is 20 points lower than the 70% obtained in 2018 and, although up slightly from last year's 45%, which was the first time this drop in confidence in the military was captured in the Reagan Foundation survey. The survey was conducted between November 9 and 17 among more than 2,500 U.S. adults.

The Reagan Foundation survey asked citizens what was driving this decline. The top response was that the military leadership had become overly politicized, with 62% agreeing with this perspective.

Another reason for Americans' loss of confidence in the military is the lack of performance and the competence of civilian leaders in the military. One specific event which effected 47% of people polled was the presidential decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.