Dwight D. Eisenhower(top left) andBarack Obama(top right) have each been the most admired man 12 times.Hillary Clinton(bottom left) has been the most admired woman 22 times, andEleanor Roosevelt(bottom right) has been the most admired woman 13 times.

Gallup, an American analytics and advisory company, conducted an annualopinion poll to determine the most admired man and woman in theUnited States at the end of most years from 1946 to 2020.^[1] Americans are asked, without prompting, to say which man and woman "living today in any part of the world" they admire the most.^[2][3] The results of the poll were published as a top ten list. In most years, the most admired man was the incumbentpresident of the United States, and the most admired woman was thefirst lady.^[4]

The incumbent president was the most admired man in 58 of the 72 years in which the poll was conducted.^[1]Dwight D. Eisenhower andBarack Obama have each been the most admired man 12 times.^[5] In his lifetime, the evangelistBilly Graham had 61 appearances in the top-ten list, the most of any individual, and 8 second-place finishes.^[6] Other men with many appearances areRonald Reagan (31),Jimmy Carter (28), andPope John Paul II (27).^[7] The incumbentpope has finished in the top-ten list every year since 1977.^[7] The survey has been considered, in part, to be a test ofname recognition.^[8] While the top of the list is often predictable, scholars have found appearances further down in the top ten to be illuminating. For instance, in 1958, GovernorOrval Faubus of Arkansas, asegregationist, appeared on the list in the wake of theLittle Rock Nine civil-rights episode.^[9] A portion of those surveyed have chosen a friend or relative instead of a public figure.^[10]

Two former first ladies have had the most appearances as the most admired woman:Eleanor Roosevelt^[3] andHillary Clinton. In the late 1940s and 1950s, Roosevelt was anambassador to the United Nations, serving as the chair of theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights and leading the drafting of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, and was widely referred to as the "First Lady of the World".^[11] Clinton served as the first lady from 1993 to 2001, a senator from New York, thesecretary of state,^[12] and was the first American female presidential nominee of either of the two major American political parties when she ran in the2016 presidential election.^[13] Clinton topped the list in 22 of the 25 polls conducted during between 1993 and 2017, including 16 times in a row from 2002 to 2017, beforeMichelle Obama became the most admired woman in 2018.^[6] Roosevelt was named the most admired woman 13 times. The highest number of top-ten appearances belongs to QueenElizabeth II, with 52.^[6][5] Despite never winning, broadcasterOprah Winfrey has finished in the top ten a total of 33 times,^[5] including finishing second 14 times.^[6]

There were two ties for the top position in the poll: in 1980,Mother Teresa andRosalynn Carter tied for the most admired woman, and in 2019, Barack Obama andDonald Trump shared the title of most admired man.^[14] For the years 1946 and 1947, the "most admired person" was asked; the "most admired woman" was not asked in 1967.^[5] No poll was conducted in 1976. The poll was last conducted in 2020, although Gallup has made no announcement about terminating the poll permanently.

List of winners of Gallup's most admired man and woman poll

Year	Most admired man		Most admired woman		Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Portrait	Name
1946		Douglas MacArthur	Not answered[a]		[5]
1947					[5]
1948		Harry S. Truman		Eleanor Roosevelt	[15]
1949					[16]
1950		Dwight D. Eisenhower			[5]
1951		Douglas MacArthur		Elizabeth Kenny	[17][18]
1952		Dwight D. Eisenhower		Eleanor Roosevelt	[19]
1953					[20]
1954					[21][22]
1955					[21][23]
1956					[21][23]
1957					[21][24]
1958					[21][24]
1959					[21][25]
1960					[21][25]
1961		John F. Kennedy			[26][27]
1962				Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis	[26][28]
1963		Lyndon B. Johnson			[26][28]
1964					[29][30]
1965					[29][30]
1966					[31]
1967		Dwight D. Eisenhower	Not asked		[32]
1968				Ethel Kennedy	[32][33]
1969		Richard Nixon		Mamie Eisenhower	[34][35]
1970					[34][35]
1971				Golda Meir	[36][37]
1972				Pat Nixon	[36][37]
1973		Henry Kissinger		Golda Meir	[38][39]
1974					[38][39]
1975				Betty Ford	[40]
1976	Not asked				—
1977		Jimmy Carter		Rosalynn Carter	[41][42]
1978				Betty Ford	[41][42]
1979				Rosalynn Carter	[5]
1980		Pope John Paul II		Mother Teresa andRosalynn Carter (tie)	[43]
1981		Ronald Reagan		Nancy Reagan	[44]
1982				Margaret Thatcher	[45][46]
1983					[5]
1984					[47][48]
1985				Nancy Reagan	[49]
1986				Mother Teresa	[5]
1987				Nancy Reagan	[50]
1988				Margaret Thatcher	[51][52]
1989		George H. W. Bush			[5]
1990					[53]
1991				Barbara Bush	[54]
1992					[55]
1993		Bill Clinton		Hillary Clinton	[56]
1994					[57]
1995				Mother Teresa	[58]
1996					[59]
1997				Hillary Clinton	[60]
1998					[61]
1999					[62]
2000					[63]
2001		George W. Bush		Laura Bush	[64]
2002				Hillary Clinton	[65]
2003					[66]
2004					[67]
2005					[68]
2006					[69]
2007					[70][71]
2008		Barack Obama			[72]
2009					[73]
2010					[74]
2011					[75]
2012					[76]
2013					[77]
2014					[78]
2015					[79]
2016					[80]
2017					[81]
2018				Michelle Obama	[82]
2019		Barack Obama andDonald Trump[b] (tie)			[83][84]
2020		Donald Trump			[85][86]

• Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century

• Gallup's most admired man and woman pollArchived November 10, 2024, at theWayback Machine – Gallup News

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