Trump is second most admired man next to Barack Obama: Gallup poll

US President Donald Trump is the second most admired man in America, according to a Gallup poll. He is next on the list which former POTUS Barack Obama leads.

Obama leading the list of most admired men for 2017 marks the first time since 2008 when a current US president did not win the distinction. Seventeen percent of respondents said Obama was the man they admired the most compared to 14 percent of those surveyed who named Trump.

A wide partisan split did not come as a surprise, with 35 percent of Republicans saying Trump was the most admired man of 2017. It is comparable to 39 percent of Democrats who said it was Obama.

His unpopularity holds him back from winning the most admired distinction, Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones has written in a blog post announcing the findings. He added that the current president usually tops the list since he is arguably the most prominent figure in the country. When the president is unpopular, however, other well-known and well-liked men have been able to finish first.

Former president Bill Clinton secured the distinction while in office from 1993 to 2000. Now he fell out of the top 10 for the first time in more than two decades. Pope Francis, Christian evangelist Billy Graham, Senator from Arizona John McCain, South African-born American business magnate Elon Musk and American retail entrepreneur Jeff Bezos are also on the list of most admired men this year.

Most admired woman

Hillary Clinton, the person Trump beat in the 2016 election, is the most admired woman for Americans. She is the woman Americans most admire for the 16th year in a row.

Clinton has held the title for 22 times, more than anybody else. Another former FLOTUS Eleanor Roosevelt is next on the list with 13 wins.

Clinton beat former first lady Michelle Obama in this year’s 9 percent to 7 percent result. Host Oprah Winfrey, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and current US first lady Melania Trump are also on the list of most admired women in this years’ Gallup poll.

Jones recognised that Clinton remains more prominent than other contenders. “However, retaining that stature may be more challenging in coming years with her political career likely over,” he wrote. The nine percent of respondents who named Clinton is the lowest percentage she has got since 2002 when 7 percent named her in a close first-place finish.