Americans’ 1998 Predictions for 2025: What Came True, What Didn’t

In 1998, when Bill Clinton was facing impeachment, Titanic dominated the Oscars and landline phones were still the main form of household communication, Americans were asked to imagine what life would look like in 2025.

Gallup and USA Today conducted a nationwide opinion poll that year, interviewing 1,055 Americans via landline telephone about their expectations for the distant future.

According to a CNN report published on Monday, those predictions are preserved in the polling archives of Cornell University’s Roper Center. As 2025 draws to a close, a review shows that some expectations proved strikingly accurate, while others fell short.

Most respondents believed the United States would elect a Black president, legalize same-sex marriage and face a deadly new global disease within 27 years. Those forecasts largely materialized with the election of Barack Obama, nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants also correctly predicted that space travel would not become common for ordinary citizens and that humans would not make direct contact with extraterrestrial life.

However, nearly two-thirds expected the United States to have a female president by 2025, which has yet to happen. More than half believed cancer would be cured, and 61% thought people would routinely live to 100 years old—expectations that remain unmet despite medical advances.

The survey reflected widespread concern about social inequality. About 70% believed the wealthy would be better off, while views on the middle class were mixed. Most expected life to become harder for the poor.

Concerns over privacy and freedom were also prominent. Nearly 80% feared a decline in personal privacy, and 57% anticipated reduced personal freedom. Rising crime, environmental deterioration and moral decline were widely expected, with 71% saying raising children to be good people would become more difficult.

Still, respondents expressed some optimism, predicting improved race relations and greater access to healthcare, though at higher costs.

Gallup continues to conduct public opinion surveys, though reliance on landlines has sharply declined. Public sentiment has also shifted over time: while nearly 60% of Americans in 1998 said they were satisfied with the country’s direction, that figure has now fallen to 24%.