Hillary Edges Out Oprah as Most Admired Woman in ‘07
George W. Bush most admired man
by Jeffrey M. Jones
PRINCETON, NJ -- For the sixth year in a row, President George W. Bush is the most admired man and Sen. Hillary Clinton the most admired woman in Gallup's annual survey. But neither winner had a very decisive win this year, with former President Bill Clinton nearly tying Bush and Hillary Clinton barely topping talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. This is the seventh time Bush has been most admired man and the 12th time Clinton has been most admired woman.
These results are based on the Dec. 14-16 USA Today/Gallup poll, which asked Americans, without prompting, to say what man and woman "living today in any part of the world, do [they] admire most?" Gallup has asked the most admired man and woman questions in this format in all but two years since 1948.
Now, honestly, Oprah I can understand. I can't necessarily say that I agree with a great many of Oprah's views, but she's a likable lady, from all indications and from what I know from hearing things about her from people who know her. "Likable," however, isn't really something that comes readily to the lips when describing Hillary Clinton.
With 16% of total mentions for most admired woman, Winfrey had her strongest showing to date in the current poll. But Clinton also had a stronger-than-usual score in 2007 -- the 18% who mention the former first lady is the highest since 2000 (19%). Clinton's best performance was in 1998, when 28% said they most admired her, just as her husband was being impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in the Monica Lewinsky matter.
Winfrey has now finished second on the most admired woman list every year since 1997 with the exception of 2001, when she was third (to Laura Bush and Clinton). During that time, she has come within two percentage points of Clinton for the top spot on one other occasion (2004) and within one point on two occasions (2002 and 2005).
After Clinton and Winfrey, the remainder of the top 10 most admired women are Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (5%), actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie (3%), first lady Laura Bush (3%), former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (2%), former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (2%), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, author Maya Angelou, and Queen Elizabeth II (all at 1%).
Eight of the top 10 women this year also made the list last year. Bhutto, who recently returned to Pakistan after several years in exile, finished in the top 10 for the first time, and Queen Elizabeth returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2004.
Simply fascinating. My most obvious question is "why?" What has Hillary Clinton done that has earned such admiration?
Absolutely amazing.
Once and Always, an (extremely bewildered) American Fighting Man
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