{"id":55936,"date":"2026-03-18T07:01:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=55936"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:01:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:01:56","slug":"the-iran-war-is-the-most-unpopular-conflict-in-u-s-history-and-the-numbers-are-staggering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=55936","title":{"rendered":"

The Iran war is the most unpopular conflict in U.S. history, and the numbers are staggering<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n

By Nick Moyle | NJ.com<\/p>\n

The war with\u00a0<\/b>Iran that\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0launched on Feb. 28 stands as a\u00a0remarkable outlier<\/a> among major American conflicts over the past 90 years.<\/p>\n

Decades of\u00a0polling data<\/a> going back to World War II show that a larger percentage of Americans were opposed to U.S. military intervention in Iran than any previous foreign conflict.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0New York Times analysis<\/a>\u00a0found just 41% of Americans\u00a0supported<\/a>\u00a0launching a war on Iran when the U.S. and Israel bombed Tehran, far lower than support for most other historical conflicts at their outset.\u00a0(Note: There were no public approval polls available at the start of the Vietnam War.)<\/i><\/p>\n

Of the 10 major U.S. military conflicts since 1941, only the Iran War and 2011 intervention in Libya were not backed by a majority of Americans.<\/p>\n

Around 47% of Americans supported the Obama administration\u2019s strikes on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s forces in March 2011. The U.S. House later\u00a0rebuked President Barack Obama<\/a> for continuing to maintain an American role in NATO\u2019s operations without the express consent of Congress.<\/p>\n

The Afghanistan War launched in 2001 and the Iraq War that began in 2003 had the support of 92% and 76% of Americans, respectively, when those operations began. It was only after those conflicts began that public sentiment\u00a0shifted drastically<\/a>\u00a0toward\u00a0majority opposition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Americans were in\u00a0near-universal agreement<\/a> about the U.S. formally entering World War II in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. About 97% of Americans supported military intervention in WWII, according to a Gallup poll conducted that month.<\/p>\n

Public support for U.S. military intervention in the first days of international conflicts,\u00a0per the New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n