Louis Harris (January 6, 1921 – December 17, 2016) was an American
opinion polling
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
entrepreneur,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
, and author. He ran one of the best-known polling organizations of his time, Louis Harris and Associates, which conducted
The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll (legal name: Harris Insights and Analytics) is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulti ...
. He followed
Elmo Roper
Elmo Burns Roper Jr. (July 31, 1900 in Hebron, Nebraska – April 30, 1971 in Redding, Connecticut) was an American pollster known for his pioneering work in market research and opinion polling, alongside friends-cum-rivals Archibald Crossl ...
and
George Gallup
George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.
Life and caree ...
in using and improving the art and the techniques of opinion polling.
Early life
Harris was born on January 6, 1921 in New Haven, one of three children of Harry Harris, a real estate developer, and the former Frances Smith. He was raised in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, where he graduated in 1942. He then joined the Navy, as World War II was underway.
Career
Harris began working in the field of public opinion and marketing research in 1947, when he joined the
Elmo Roper
Elmo Burns Roper Jr. (July 31, 1900 in Hebron, Nebraska – April 30, 1971 in Redding, Connecticut) was an American pollster known for his pioneering work in market research and opinion polling, alongside friends-cum-rivals Archibald Crossl ...
firm as Roper's assistant. In 1956 Harris left Roper's business and started his own firm, Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.
The Harris firm conducted polling for political candidates. In 1960 Harris became the first presidential pollster, working for the campaign of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, who was elected U.S. President that year. Kennedy had initially hired Harris in 1958 for assistance with his campaign for re-election to the US Senate; following that re-election, Harris persuaded Kennedy to run for the presidency, and had much advice on how to achieve that goal, using his opinion polling techniques.
In 1962, Harris devised a new analysis technique for CBS News to enable the
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...
to predict the outcome of an election based on computer analysis of voting results from a small number of "key precincts." It was felt that predicting the election on television before polling was ended across the US was a negative action, as West Coast voters felt this lessened the importance of their votes. The practice was then discontinued.
Harris wrote columns that appeared in several print media, and then on television. From 1963 to 1968, his columns appeared in ''The Washington Post'' and in ''Newsweek''. Then from 1969 to 1988, his columns were written for The Chicago Tribune-New York Daily News Syndicate, appearing in over 100 newspapers. He wrote for ''Time Magazine'' from 1969 to 1972, and later gave his commentaries on CBS and ABC News.
In January 1992 at age 70, Lou Harris retired from Louis Harris & Associates, which was owned by Gannett in that year, and formed his second company, LH Associates.
Harris's firm was bought by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1969, and then by Gannett in 1975, with Louis Harris continuing as chief executive until he retired in 1992. In 1996, the
Gannett Corporation
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Harris Interactive, in December 1999. In February 2014,
The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll (legal name: Harris Insights and Analytics) is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulti ...
was acquired by Nielsen.
Legacy
In 2017, The Harris Poll was acquired by the Stagwell Group, which took the company private and renamed the polling firm as
Harris Insights & Analytics
The Harris Poll (legal name: Harris Insights and Analytics) is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulti ...
. The continuous polling of American opinion is now found a this online site
His papers, Louis Harris papers, 1940-1990s, are held in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (#4662).
Bibliography
This is an abbreviated list of his publications.
*''Is There a Republican Majority?'' (1954)
*''The Negro Revolution in America'' (1964, with William Brink, republished in 1997) Simon & Schuster,
*''Black and White'' (1967)
*''Black-Jewish Relations in New York City: The Anguish of Change'' (1970 with Bert E. Swanson), Praeger Publishers,
*''Redesigning America's schools: The Public Speaks: report of a survey'' (1986), The Forum,
*''Inside America'' (1987), Vintage Books,
Personal life
In 1943, Louis Harrise married Florence Yard. They had three children, Peter, Richard and Susan Yard Harris. His wife died in 2004. At the time of his death he had four grandchildren. Harris died on December 17, 2016, at his home in Key West, Florida.