New Beginnings, Old Anxieties

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A TIME poll finds more unease, less hope, than four years ago

He won election by a landslide and was welcomed to office last week with a blare of trumpets and the bells of rejoicing at the freeing of the American hostages. But Ronald Reagan's honeymoon is likely to be somber. He inherits a nation that is bleakly pessimistic about its own situation, anxious about inflation, skeptical about solving any of its major problems quickly and much less confident than it was four years ago when Jimmy Carter took office.

Reagan settles into the White House with the nation still divided in its opinion of hun. Fewer than half of the American people now express full confidence and trust in the 40th President, while nearly as many say they have doubts and reservations about him. These are the findings of a national opinion survey conducted for TIME by the research firm Yankelovich, Skelly and White Inc. shortly before Reagan's Inauguration.*

The nation's present sour mood of high skepticism and low expectations is in sharp contrast with the national ebullience that surrounded Carter's beginnings as President. At that tune 47% of Americans felt the country was in good shape, compared with 18% who feel that way now. Moreover, Carter, though his electoral victory over Gerald Ford was far narrower than Reagan's victory last fall, arrived in office riding a larger wave of personal popularity than Reagan does now. Four years ago, 62% of the public expressed trust and confidence in Carter. Now just 48% feel that way about Reagan.

But the poll also discloses that while the national mood is darker than four years ago, people are much more realistic about what the new President can accomplish quickly. While expressing hopes that he can improve the national welfare on a wide array of fronts, Americans also share a widespread recognition that noticeable changes may take a while.

About three-quarters of the voters, for example, believe it will be more than a year before any significant progress can be made in curbing inflation and balancing the budget, in making the Social Security system healthy, and in achieving peace in the Middle East.

Slightly more than half of those surveyed also feel that more than a year will be required to improve the nation's defenses, re-establish American prestige abroad, trim waste from Government, deal effectively with the Soviets and reduce unemployment. Though the poll does not measure just how long Americans will be patient about these problems, it does show that Reagan is not expected to be a miracle worker.

On the other hand, hopes are high that Reagan will swiftly assert more leadership than Carter did. Two-thirds of those questioned expect noticeable results in that aspect of presidential performance within the first year of the Reagan Administration. Similarly, voters anticipate a fast turnaround in the relationship between the President and Congress, with 71% saying it is realistic to expect improvement within a year.