Media

Michelle and Barack Obama Are America's Most Admired Woman and Man

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: December 28, 2018 6:40 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 1:12 pm

Beginning in 1946, the widely regarded polling company Gallup has asked Americans which public figures they admire the most. The results each year are broken into men’s and women’s categories. Former President Barack Obama finished first on the list of men for 2018. Former First Lady Michelle Obama finished first on the list of women. In doing so, she moved ahead of Hillary Clinton, who topped the list of most-admired women for 17 years.

Michelle Obama was the choice of 15% of respondents, while Clinton fell to third with 4%, finishing behind Oprah Winfrey, who was the choice of 5%.

Gallup had posed the survey question of which men and women are admired the most off and on until 1976, when the polling company started to ask the question every year. Many of the people at the top of the list are not Americans. Queen Elizabeth has been in the top 10 women for 50 years, which is a record. This year’s top 10 men include the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of Tibet, and Pope Francis.

President Obama is on an impressive run of his own. He had held the top spot for 11 years, which takes him back to the period when he was still president-elect. Of those who picked a man in the survey, Obama received 19% of votes. He is closing in a milestone. If Obama is at the top of the list one more time, he will match Dwight Eisenhower’s 12 years in that position, which were not consecutive.

There were politicians on both the lists of most admired men and women. President Donald Trump was second for the fourth time. He was the choice of 13% of those polled who answered about men. It was his fourth year in second place. The women’s roster includes departing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who many believe is the most powerful political figure in Europe. She has held office since 2005. Nancy Pelosi, who is about to become the speaker of the House again, is also on the list. So is Nikki Haley, who is leaving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Among men, the politicians include senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and former Sen. Joe Biden, each of whom is a front-runner for the 2020 presidential race. Former President Bill Clinton and current Vice President Mike Pence were on the men’s list as well.

Among men, after Obama and Trump, George W. Bush, who preceded Obama as president, was third with 2% of the vote. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, was one of only two business people on either the men’s or women’s list. He finished fourth among men with 1%. Gates has become one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has assets of over $50 billion. Among its goals are to empower women worldwide and eradicate several significant diseases. Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk was the other business figure.

The results of the poll were based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 3 through Dec. 12 with a random sample of 1,025 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Gallup reports that “Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents.”