George Gallup was born in Iowa and received his doctorate in journalism from the state university in 1928.

In the early 1930s, he became a journalism professor. He also conducted reader surveys for midwestern newspapers. One of the surveys he conducted for the Des Moines Register and Tribune showed that readers were interested in photography. In response, the publishers decided to put out a photo-heavy magazine called Look.

In 1936, Gallup spent $250,000 on a new polling technique that he was sure would be an improvement upon the then reigning pollster, Literary Digest. Instead of polling a large number of people, Gallup polled a only small representative sampling and forecast the results from that sampling.

The big test of Gallup's system came during the 1936 presidential campaign. The Literary Digest polls had shown that Alf Landon would be the next president. Gallup's results showed that Franklin Roosevelt would win. Gallup's prediction proved to be correct, which is why the name Gallup, and not Literary Digest, is now synonymous with polling.