Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama have been named again by Americans as their most admired woman and man in the world in 2015, but Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and Pope Francis tied for second, according to an annual survey conducted by Gallup, Politico reported.
Among the most admired women, Hillary Clinton earned 13 percent of the responders' votes, putting her on top of the list for the 20th time and extending her record, NBC News reported. The next closest was Eleanor Roosevelt, with 13 times in the top spot. Obama earned 17 percent on the men's side, his eighth time atop the list, tying for second most with former presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.
Gallup acknowledges that proximity to the White House has an effect on those who respond to the poll, made apparent in the surge of Donald Trump in the survey.
"Trump's surprisingly strong and often controversial presidential campaign has made him a prominent news figure this year and, thus, top-of-mind for many Americans," Gallup writes in the report, acccording to UPI. "This helps explain his strong showing when Gallup asks Americans, in an open-ended fashion, to name the man they admire most. The successful businessman has finished in the top 10 four other times, including from 1988 through 1990 and in 2011."
Gallup noted that although Clinton and Obama were still on top of the survey, their margin of doing so has decreased over previous years.
"Although Clinton and Obama each led this year's poll by significant margins, the percentage mentioning each as most admired is slightly lower than the percentages they have received in the past," Gallup said in its report. "Across the eight times Obama has been most admired man, an average 23 percent of Americans have named him, while in the 20 times Clinton has been most admired woman, an average 16 percent have named her."
Gallup began its poll for men in 1946 and two years later for women. U.S. presidents are typically the most admired man. Should Hillary Clinton win the presidential bid in 2016, Gallup notes, she would most certainly add to her long list of years at the top of the survey.
"Given the prominence of presidents and ex-presidents in the most admired lists, if Clinton succeeds in her presidential bid, she would certainly continue to add to her long list of records in Gallup's most admired polling," according to Gallup. "This would include joining Eisenhower as the only two people who have ever been named most admired man or woman before being elected president."
