By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continue to be named by Americans as the Most Admired Man and Most Admired Woman living today in any part of the world.
While Obama has been the Most Admired Man four years in a row Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 10 years, according to a new Gallup poll, leading public opinion pollster.
The top five Most Admired men also include George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Billy Graham, and Warren Buffett, while Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and Condoleezza Rice round out the top five Most Admired women.
Hillary Clinton has now topped the list of Most Admired women a total of 16 times since 1993, finishing second in 1995 and 1996 to Mother Teresa and in 2001 to Laura Bush.
No other woman has been named Most Admired Woman as many times as Clinton. Eleanor Roosevelt is second with 13 No.1 finishes, followed by Margaret Thatcher, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Mother Teresa.
Barack Obama’s first-place finish is his fourth. Dwight Eisenhower holds the record for first-place finishers among men, with 12, followed by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton with 8 each.
It is clear from the list of Most Admired men that presidents usually win the honor, Gallup said. A sitting or newly elected president has won the distinction each of the last 31 years, and 55 times out of the 65 it has been asked.
The only non-presidents to finish first were Douglas MacArthur (1946-1947 and 1951), Eisenhower (1950 before being elected and 1967-1968 after leaving office), Henry Kissinger (1973-1975), and Pope John Paul II (1980).
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])