For the record, yet another year-end list, this one based very much on name recall and, sometimes, how much in the news someone has been - which certainly helps name recall.
Americans most admire Obama, Clinton, Palin -
and Benedict XVI ranks 5th among the men
By Susan Page
USA TODAY
Source: USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, taken Dec. 11-13, of 1,025 adults. Margin of error +/4 percentage points.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 — President Obama is the man Americans admired most in 2009, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are virtually tied as the most-admired woman.
The close finish by Clinton, named by 16% in the open-ended survey, and Palin, named by 15%, reflects the nation's partisan divide. Clinton was cited by nearly 3 in 10 Democrats but only 6% of Republicans, Palin by a third of Republicans but less than 1% of Democrats.
Obama dominates the field among men at 30%, though his support also shows a partisan split. He was named by more than half of Democrats but just 7% of Republicans.
While the president's job-approval rating has eroded during his first year in office, his standing as the most-admired man demonstrates "a very strong fan base," says Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief. The only past presidents to score higher were George W. Bush in 2001, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and John Kennedy in 1961.
First lady Michelle Obama ranks as the fourth most-admired woman, behind Oprah Winfrey.
The survey, taken by Gallup almost every year since 1948, shows the nation's broad judgment — and name recall — of politicians, popes and talk-show hosts. Presidents often lead the list, though as president-elect, Obama swamped Bush in 2008. This year, as last, Bush finished a distant second.
South African leader Nelson Mandela is third and conservative commentator Glenn Beck fourth. Evangelist Billy Graham, who has been on the top-10 list every year the survey has been taken since 1955, is sixth, just after Pope Benedict XVI.
The question asked of the respondents is:
Who is the living man/woman you most admire?
Therefore, the names come entirely from the respondents and are not suggested to them.
I went back and checked how Benedict XVI has fared in this poll in the first four years of his Pontificate: In 2005, he was #4 (behind Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter); in 2006, #7; in 2007, #9; in 2008, #4. So far, five for five.
Pope Pius XII made the list 10 times since 1946 when the poll was first taken (since he died in 1958, it means he missed it two years) - American Jews certainly were among the respondents in that time period!; Pope Paul VI, 12 times during his Pontificate (missed making it for 3 years); John Paul II, every year for 26 years, topping the list in 1980 (the year President Carter was weakest and ended up being defeated by Ronald Reagan).
In 1999, Gallup did a poll of the 'most admired' persons of the 20th century, living and dead, and Mother Teresa won it by a mile, with half of the respondents naming her. John Paul II came in #8, with 24%. (#2-#7 were Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Billy Graham.)
My initial impression is that US Presidents and Popes almost automatically get into the list - it's an interesting sign that there are enough respondents for whom a Pope or a religious leader like Billy Graham or a living saint like Mother Teresa is the most admired person.
An interesting 'twinning' - possibly random - in most of these polls is Benedict XVI and Bill Gates, who have tied or ranked next to each other in the Gallup lists of the past five years, as well as in a couple of 'power' lists drawn up in 2009.
In any case, I think these are choices whose significance other than superficially sociological cannot really be accredited nor validated.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/01/2010 12:54]