Michelle Obama wins America’s ‘Most Admired Woman’ in Gallup poll

By David Reid, CNBC

Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has been named America’s “Most Admired Woman” in 2018, ending Hillary Clinton’s 17-year winning run.

The lawyer, author, and activist won the 2018 poll convincingly, securing 15 percent of the mentions among the 1,025 of people surveyed.

Scoring 5 percent, TV personality Oprah Winfrey was second in the annual poll compiled by Gallup, while former Secretary of State Clinton dropped two places to third, and current first lady Melania Trump finished fourth.

Most Admired Woman (%)

Michelle Obama 15

Oprah Winfrey  5

Hillary Clinton 4

Melania Trump 4

Queen Elizabeth 2

Angela Merkel 2

Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2

Ellen DeGeneres 2

Michelle Obama is currently touring the world to promote her recently released autobiography “Becoming.”

Unsurprisingly, the former first lady was a strong favorite among Democrat voters, with 28 percent naming her. Melania Trump was the top finisher among respondents identifying as Republicans, scoring 9 percent, although both Obama and Winfrey each scored 5 percent.

A family success

President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama is photographed during a presidential portrait sitting for an official photo in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The Obama family celebrated a double victory with former President Barack Obama taking home the “Most Admired Man” award for the 11th year in a row. President Donald Trump finished second in the male category.

If Barack Obama can win one more year, he will tie with former President Dwight Eisenhower for the most No. 1 finishes among men. To date, Trump and Gerald Ford are the only two presidents not to win the honor while in office.

Gallup said that the Rev. Billy Graham, who passed away in 2018, has the most top 10 finishes of any man or woman, a record 61 times.

Most Admired Man (%)

Barack Obama 19

Donald Trump 13

George W. Bush 2

Pope Francis 2

Bill Gates 1

Bernie Sanders 1

Bill Clinton 1

Dalai Lama 1

Results for the poll were based on telephone interviews conducted between December 3-12 and were spread across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

This article originally appeared in CNBC.

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