For the third year in a row, former First Lady Michelle Obama has won the title of most admired woman in the U.S., according to Gallup polling. A full 10 percent of respondents identified the former First Lady and continued public figure as the woman who they most admire, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in second place, with 6 percent of respondents identifying the soon-to-be national leader as their most admired woman. Behind Obama and Harris, 4 percent of respondents selected First Lady Melania Trump, 3 percent selected Oprah Winfrey, and 2 percent of respondents each opted for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Queen Elizabeth I.
Melania Trump has not yet won the title of most admired woman in the U.S., according to Gallup polling, although this year, her husband — outgoing President Donald Trump — won the title of most admired man in the U.S. thanks to the rise in support for President-elect Joe Biden, who drew supporters away from former President Barack Obama, who’d been the most admired man in the U.S. for 12 years in a row. This year, a full 18 percent of respondents opted for Donald, while 15 percent of respondents said Obama was their most admired man, and 6 percent named President-elect Joe Biden. The number of respondents who opted for either Obama or Biden is higher than the number who selected Donald.
The Obamas have maintained a prominent position in public life since exiting the White House. Both Michelle and Barack advocated on behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign prior to Election Day, and Michelle has helmed a voter engagement advocacy organization called When We All Vote, which aims to increase voter participation.
Interestingly, a recent USA Today/ Suffolk University survey seems to indicate that public opinion of Obama at the end of his time in office was significantly better than the present public opinion of Trump, at the conclusion of his own presidency. In a new USA Today/ Suffolk University poll, a full 50 percent of respondents said that they believe that history will regard Trump as a “failed” president. In a similar survey from late 2016, only 23 percent of respondents offered the same assessment of Obama.
