As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, a new survey shows that most Americans believe the country’s best days are behind it rather than ahead. This view of the country, which crosses nearly every major demographic category, comes at a time of social, political and economic turmoil.
Most Americans see the country’s best years as ‘behind us’ rather than ahead
The Pew Research Center asked a total of 3,560 adult Americans whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about what the country would be like 50 years from now, as well as whether they “think the country’s best years are…” either “ahead of us” or “behind us.”
A significant majority, 59%, believe that the country’s best days have passed, while only 40% answered that they think America’s best days are yet to come.
This result holds across parties, with 64% of Democratic or Democratic-leaning Americans and 53% of Republican or Republican-leaning Americans holding this negative view of the country’s future compared to its past.
The results also hold for almost all income groups. Only wealthier Americans did not have a predominantly negative outlook; this group was split evenly between those seeing the country’s best days ahead of us and those seeing them behind us.
Black and Hispanic Americans most likely to see country’s best days in the past
The result also holds for every major racial or ethnic demographic, with majorities of white, Black, Hispanic and Asian American respondents all saying the best days of the United States are behind us.
This result is strongest for Black and Hispanic Americans, with nearly two-thirds of each group — 66% and 64%, respectively — seeing the country’s best days as being behind it.
The survey was conducted between Dec. 8 and Dec. 14, 2025. It reflects the views of Americans after nearly a year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, which has seen economic instability, political turmoil and erratic foreign and domestic policies.
For Black and Hispanic Americans, the two groups least likely to see things improving in the future, 2025 also saw various efforts to whitewash American history, a spike in Black unemployment driven in part by the alleged targeting of Black officials at independent government agencies for dismissal, and a series of heavy-handed immigration crackdowns that largely targeted immigrant Hispanic and Black communities.
Partisan divide exists, but pessimism spans both Republicans and Democrats
The negative view of the country’s prospects represents a shift over time.
The 2025 Pew survey shows that only 40% of adult Americans see the country’s best days are ahead. That figure is down from the 44% who saw America’s best days ahead in 2014.
This shift in opinion from the second Obama administration to Trump’s second presidency masks a partisan divide. More Republicans surveyed in 2025, 46%, see the United States’ best days ahead than Republicans surveyed in 2014, when only 36% felt that way.
That positive shift among Republicans is outweighed, however, by a sharp negative shift among Democrats. In 2014, a significant majority of Democrats surveyed, 57%, believed the country’s best days were ahead. By 2025, only 34% of Democrats surveyed shared that view.
In absolute terms, however, both parties are currently wary of the country’s future. About 39% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats said they were either very or somewhat pessimistic about the future, while only 33% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats said they were optimistic about where the country will be in 50 years.
With the 250th anniversary of American independence approaching, most Americans currently have a negative outlook on the country’s future. As the party behind the “Make America Great Again” slogan seeks to hold onto power after this year’s midterm elections, the new Pew Research Center survey suggests the prevailing mood across the country is that the United States’ greatest days may already be in the past.
