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DONALD TRUMP, MOST ADMIRED MAN. Each year the Gallup Organization releases the results of its poll asking Americans who they most admire. For many years, former President Barack Obama was the most admired man and former First Lady Michelle Obama the most admired woman. This year, Mrs. Obama remains the most admired woman, but there is a new most admired man: President Donald Trump.
Each year Gallup asks, “What man that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most?” Whoever is president most often tops the list, although at various times seven presidents — Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, GWBush, and Trump — have not won the top spot. Last year, Trump tied with Obama for most admired. Now, Trump is the clear winner.
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Eighteen percent of those surveyed named Trump most admired, while 15 percent named Obama. In third place, with just six percent, is President-elect Joe Biden, followed by Dr. Anthony Fauci with three percent and Pope Francis with two percent. After that, a wildly varying set of people scored one percent each — Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders, Bill Gates, LeBron James, and the Dalai Lama. (The numbers are relatively small — winning with 18 percent — because the question is open-ended, and respondents can name anyone they choose, be it their grandfather, their best friend, a celebrity, or anybody.)
Gallup broke down the results by partisan affiliation. Among Republicans, 48 percent named Trump most admired. (Gallup noted that no other public figure scored higher than two percent among Republicans.) Among Democrats, 32 percent named Obama most admired, while just 13 percent named Biden. The results for Biden indicate that, even after winning the presidential election, he is still trailing the man he served as vice president for eight years.
The poll is bittersweet news for Trump, who lost to Biden in last month’s voting. But it is a reminder of the depth of the president’s support among Republicans and many independents. (Among independents, Trump and Obama tied at 11 percent, with Biden trailing at three percent.)
As for most admired woman, Michelle Obama won for the third year in a row. Vice president-elect Kamala Harris placed second, with First Lady Melania Trump third. Mrs. Trump’s presence is an anomaly in a heavily-Democratic list of most admired women. In addition to Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris, the top group also includes Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
But the big story is the president. In his fourth year in office, heading out the White House door, he is named, for the first time, the most admired man in America. The one thing that can be certain about Donald Trump is that he has no intention of leaving the public scene. The Gallup poll shows that he will have a receptive audience.
