Most Americans say it is important to have public discussions about the country’s historical successes – as well as its failures, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey:

• 66% of U.S. adults say it is extremely or very important to publicly discuss the country’s historical successes and strengths.
• 66% say the same about discussing the country’s historical failures and flaws.

We surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population.

Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.