Literary Digest Poll

The Literary Digest Poll was an influential public opinion survey conducted in the early 20th century to predict election outcomes by asking a large, self-selected group of people their voting preferences. Its most famous failure occurred in the 1936 presidential election when it predicted Alf Landon would defeat Franklin D. Roosevelt, but Roosevelt won overwhelmingly. The poll's mistake was due to biased sampling, as it mainly surveyed wealthy, rural, or automobile-owning Americans who were not representative of the general population. This highlighted the importance of proper sampling methods in polling accuracy.