America's Fretful Mood

Worries over the economy and nuclear war dominate a TIME poll

Nearly a year after he took office, the nation over which Ronald Reagan presides is in a gloomy mood. Americans are worried about the state of their country, anxious about inflation, which they do not expect to ease soon, and feeling the pinch of a recession they fear may linger for a year or more.

Perhaps even more important, and surprising, 63% of the Americans surveyed say they see a real chance that a nuclear war will break out somewhere in the world in the next five years. Because of that...

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