About half (48%) of U.S. adults generally trust that the President tells the truth -- down substantially from 65 percent in 2002. However, 12 of the 22 professions measured by The Harris Poll(R) are trusted to be truthful by 60 percent or more of U.S. adults, with doctors (85%) and teachers (83%) topping the list. In addition, over half of the occupations measured have seen an increase in the eyes of the general public to tell the truth when compared to 2002. This is a turnaround from four years ago when most occupations saw a decrease in feeling about truthfulness.


These are some of the results of The Harris Poll(R) conducted by telephone between July 7 and 10, 2006, by Harris Interactive(R) among a nationwide sample of 1,002 U.S. adults.


In addition to doctors and teachers, those rounding out the top five of generally trusted occupations and professions are scientists (77%), police officers (76%) and professors (75%). Conversely, the five occupations that are least trusted to be truthful include actors (26%), lawyers (27%), stockbrokers (29%), trade union leaders (30%) and opinion pollsters (34%).