The best known, but not the first or only public opinion poll – originated
by Dr. George Horace Gallup (b.1901) a professor of journalism at
Northwestern University. Gallup developed his technique about 1933, basing
it on carefully phrased questions and scientifically selected samples, and
became prominent nationally on predicting the outcome of the 1936 American
presidential election, which many other pollsters failed. His poll,
operating both at home and abroad, has proved remarkable accurate, but is
far from infallible. In the 1948 national elections, for example, Gallup
chose the late Governor Thomas E. Dewey over incumbent President Truman.