President Barack Obama said earlier this week that the message of hope and change he campaigned on in 2008 still resonates in 2016. | Getty Obama bests Trump in Gallup’s ‘most admired’ poll

President Barack Obama topped Gallup’s annual list of the men Americans most admire, while Hillary Clinton was named the country’s most admired woman for the 15th year in a row.

In a poll asking Americans to name the man they most admire in the world, 22 percent of respondents picked the outgoing president. In second place was his successor, Donald Trump, favored by 15 percent.


According to Gallup, sitting presidents generally come in first in the poll, although Obama bested George W. Bush in 2008, before Obama took office and when Bush had a low job approval rating. (Obama has won every year since.) Democrats were more likely to pick Obama this year than Republicans were to pick Trump.

Others in the top 10 included Pope Francis in third place and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in fourth, followed by the Rev. Billy Graham in fifth. Bill Clinton tied for sixth place with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Dalai Lama and Bill Gates, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence came in 10th.

Asked to name the woman they most admire, 12 percent of Americans polled by Gallup chose Hillary Clinton, who has come in first in the poll 21 times, a record. First lady Michelle Obama came in second, at 8 percent.

Others in the top 10 included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Queen Elizabeth, human rights advocate Malala Yousafzai, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.