Most Admired Woman

Michelle Obama voted most admired woman, bumps Hillary Clinton from top spot: Gallup

For the first time in 17 years, Hillary Clinton was not named most admired woman.

Former first lady Michelle Obama discusses her book "Becoming" on Dec. 19, 2018 in New York City.Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

By Elisha Fieldstadt

Michelle Obama was voted America's most admired woman in a Gallup poll, ousting Hillary Clinton from the top spot for the first time in 17 years.


Since 1946, Gallup has been asking random survey participants to "name the man and woman living anywhere in the world today whom they admire most."

This year, 15 percent said Michelle Obama. The former first lady recently released a memoir, "Becoming," and wrapped up a multi-city book tour.

Her husband also holds the distinction of being the most admired man, with 19 percent naming Barack Obama for this category. He has now held the title for 11 consecutive years, and if he is named again in 2019, he will tie another former president, Dwight Eisenhower, who holds the record for the highest number of years named most admired man.

With Barack Obama holding the top spot among men, this year marks just the 13th time that an incumbent president did not come in first place in the poll.

President Donald Trump came in second place with 13 percent naming him. If he does not make the top spot at least once while he is president, Trump will join Gerald Ford as the only man in the White House not named most admired while in office.

Thirty-five percent of Democrats named Barack Obama while 32 percent of Republicans named Trump, but Republicans were more likely to name Obama at 7 percent than Democrats were to name Trump at 1 percent.

Gallup surveyed a random selection of 1,025 adults from Dec. 3 to Dec. 12.

Hillary Clinton has been in the top 10 more than two dozen times, but this year dropped to third place with Oprah taking second. It was Oprah's 14th time in the second spot, but she has never claimed first place.

Melania Trump came in fourth, with Queen Elizabeth, Angela Merkel, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres, Nikki Haley and Malala Yousafzai joining her in the top 10.

This year marked the 50th time that Queen Elizabeth has made the top 10 list of women.

George W. Bush, Pope Francis, Bill Gates, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk and Vice President Mike Pence round out the list for the top 10 most admired men.

Gallup pointed out that two men who often ranked in the top 10 passed away this year. Sen. John McCain placed six times, while evangelist Billy Graham was on the list 61 times — more than any man or woman.