Trump and Obama tied for the most admired men in the US this year. Michelle is the most admired woman, Gallup reports
The current and former presidents and their first ladies are the most admired people in the US, according to a new Gallup poll.
The analytics company polled more than 1,000 Americans about the men and women they most admired in the world.
The men
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama each scored votes from 18% of US adults, sharing the spot for the most widely admired men of the year.
This year marked Obama’s 12th time as the most admired man in the US, Gallup reported.
Tied for third place were former President Jimmy Carter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Pope Francis, Sen. Bernie Sanders, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, the Dalai Lama and billionaire investor Warren Buffet rounded out the top 10.
The women
The former and current first ladies of the US nabbed the top two spots for most admired women.
Former first lady Michelle Obama received 10% of the votes, followed by first lady Melania Trump, named by 5% of respondents.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, at only 16 years old, cracked the top five, along with Oprah Winfrey and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
For the second year in a row, Obama stole the top spot from Clinton, who finished first 22 times over 25 years, Gallup said.
The results reflect political divisions
The votes for the top admired men were divided among party lines — 41% of Democrats chose Obama, and 45% of Republicans chose Trump. Few voted for the other party’s candidate.
The split between parties in the poll reflects the same divide in politics, according to Gallup. The next two finishers, Carter and Musk, each earned only 2% of the votes, a deep decline from the votes Obama and Trump earned.
Obama’s 12th straight spot at the top indicates his post-presidency popularity. The only other president to share his popularity in the poll was Dwight Eisenhower, who won twice after leaving office in the late 1960s.
