Michelle Obama Tops Hillary Clinton As Most Admired Woman In Gallup Poll
Hillary Clinton has lost again. For the first time in 17 years, the former Secretary of State and presidential candidate has not been named as the woman most admired in a Gallup poll of Americans, finishing third in the race.
Supplanting Clinton is former First Lady Michelle Obama, who is closing out her year on a high note with the success of her autobiography and now this poll victory. Obama had finished second to Clinton three previous times, but won top honors this year by what was deemed a “significant” margin. Oprah Winfrey was second.
Gallup’s annual survey, conducted Dec. 3-12 this year, asked in an open-ended question for Americans to name the man and woman living anywhere in the world today whom they admire most. Gallup first asked the question in 1946 and has done so every year since, except 1976.
The Obama family also had another winner in the poll, as former President Barack Obama was the winner of Most Admired Man for the 11th consecutive year. President Donald Trump ranked second for the fourth year in a row.
Among the poll’s other highlights for women: Queen Elizabeth placed in the top 10 for a record 50th time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, human rights activist Malala Yousafzai and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are the other top 10 finishers.
Winfrey appears on the list for the 31st time, while Hillary Clinton made it for the 27th. Winfrey has never finished first, but has been second on 14 occasions. Clinton has finished first 22 times — more than any other man or woman — including in 1993 and 1994, 1997 through 2000, and 2002 through 2017. Clinton has finished second on three occasions, third once (this year) and fourth once (in 1992).
For men, Barack Obama’s 11th victory is now just shy of tying former President Dwight Eisenhower for the most times being Most Admired Man. Eisenhower won the distinction 12 times — the eight years he was president from 1953 through 1960, as well as in 1950, 1952, 1967 and 1968.
This year marked the 13th time in 72 measurements that the incumbent president did not win. Trump and Gerald Ford are the two presidents to date who did not win the honor while in office. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger finished first in 1974 and 1975 after Ford replaced Richard Nixon as president, and the question was not asked in 1976, Ford’s final year in office.
Rounding out the top 10 for men were former President George W. Bush, Pope Francis, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former President Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vice President Mike Pence.
The list saw Sen. John McCain and Rev. Billy Graham, two perennial high finishers, no longer on the list. Both died during the year.
Democrats and Republicans had dominant favorites for Most Admired Man, with 35% of Democrats naming Barack Obama and 32% of Republicans naming Trump. Independents were slightly more likely to name Obama (13%) than Trump (10%), while Republicans more often mentioned Obama (7%) than Democrats did Trump (1%).
Michelle Obama was Democrats’ favorite for Most Admired Woman, with 28% naming her, compared with 7% for Winfrey and 7% for Clinton. Obama also won by a significant margin among independents. Melania Trump was the top finisher among Republicans at 9%, with Obama and Winfrey getting 5% each.
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