2021 CBS News polling: What Americans thought about COVID-19, Biden, the January 6 attack and more
CBSN
2021 was a year of ups and downs in the minds of the American public.
The year began with public concern about the state of U.S. democracy, yet positive ratings for newly-elected President Joe Biden; ratings that would turn more negative over the course of the year. In the spring, there was some optimism about the pandemic as vaccine rates rose and then some concern as a new COVID variant emerged at year's end. Many of the political divisions we've seen in recent years endured throughout 2021 but, all in all, Americans are feeling pretty good about 2022.
CBS News polled thousands of people across the country this year getting their opinions on a range of issues. Here's a look back at some of the highlights from CBS News polling in 2021:
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.