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CNN Live At Daybreak
America's Voice: Who Do We Admire?
Aired December 30, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time now to ponder who you would admire most. Come on. Think about it. Time's up. We've already come up with the answer, courtesy of Gallup.
Live to Princeton, New Jersey, and Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport.
Good morning -- Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, this is something that George Gallup, who founded our company, started doing way back 50 years or more ago. The person has to be alive. We asked Americans: Who is the man and then who is the woman living anywhere in the world that you admire more than any other?
Now, the president usually wins the male side of the most admired equation, not always, but usually. And George W. Bush, the president, wins handily this year. In fact, this is a large number. Spontaneously, 29 percent of Americans say George Bush is the person they admire, and he's way, way ahead of anybody else on the list.
Secretary of State Colin Powell comes in tied with Pope John Paul II, but they're way down on the list. Bill Clinton is still there on the list, and Democrats named him spontaneously. And then, Nelson Mandela.
But you can see Bush is one of the highest percentages that we've had for a male in our Gallup Poll history. In fact, just to show you briefly, this is how the year went for George W. Bush. He went up, job approval in the middle of the year. He was at 63 job approval when we started the year. Guess what? He ends the year at 63, the same way he started.
Now, on the female side of the equation, it was not the first lady. Not totally unusual. It'll tell you a little bit more about that in a minute. But Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and current senator, of course, from the state of New York, fairly well dominates the women's list -- 16 percent. She's the most admired woman on our list.
Then, Oprah Winfrey, talk show hostess, and then comes Laura Bush in third place. She is a very low key, I think, first ladyship, if I can call it that. And, of course, this shows that she doesn't come to mind a lot. Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, and then the former first lady, Barbara Bush, comes in at that point -- Carol. COSTELLO: I think first ladyship is just fine.
Frank, can you put this into context for us? I mean, who appears on these lists the most over time?
NEWPORT: An interesting trivia question. Remember, the person has to have longevity. To have been on the top 10 list for many, many years, you have to have stayed alive. And guess what? Many people don't get this right. It's the evangelist Billy Graham, who has been on our list more than any other person, top 10 on the list. Going all the way back to just after World War II, he's been on the list, believe it or not, 46 years. He's on the top 10 again this year.
Then comes Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Truman and Nixon, three presidents come in, and they've been on the list 20 times each.
On the female side, it is the queen. She actually appeared on this list when she was the princess, before she was coronated in the 1950s. She's been on off and on many years since then, on 39 times. Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Margaret Thatcher, Mamie Eisenhower. And remember her? Margaret Chase Smith. She was a female senator from the state of Maine, I believe, and she used to appear very regularly on the list in the '50s and in the 1960s -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Very interesting numbers. Thank you. Frank Newport reporting live from Princeton, New Jersey, for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 30, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time now to ponder who you would admire most. Come on. Think about it. Time's up. We've already come up with the answer, courtesy of Gallup.
Live to Princeton, New Jersey, and Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport.
Good morning -- Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, this is something that George Gallup, who founded our company, started doing way back 50 years or more ago. The person has to be alive. We asked Americans: Who is the man and then who is the woman living anywhere in the world that you admire more than any other?
Now, the president usually wins the male side of the most admired equation, not always, but usually. And George W. Bush, the president, wins handily this year. In fact, this is a large number. Spontaneously, 29 percent of Americans say George Bush is the person they admire, and he's way, way ahead of anybody else on the list.
Secretary of State Colin Powell comes in tied with Pope John Paul II, but they're way down on the list. Bill Clinton is still there on the list, and Democrats named him spontaneously. And then, Nelson Mandela.
But you can see Bush is one of the highest percentages that we've had for a male in our Gallup Poll history. In fact, just to show you briefly, this is how the year went for George W. Bush. He went up, job approval in the middle of the year. He was at 63 job approval when we started the year. Guess what? He ends the year at 63, the same way he started.
Now, on the female side of the equation, it was not the first lady. Not totally unusual. It'll tell you a little bit more about that in a minute. But Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and current senator, of course, from the state of New York, fairly well dominates the women's list -- 16 percent. She's the most admired woman on our list.
Then, Oprah Winfrey, talk show hostess, and then comes Laura Bush in third place. She is a very low key, I think, first ladyship, if I can call it that. And, of course, this shows that she doesn't come to mind a lot. Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, and then the former first lady, Barbara Bush, comes in at that point -- Carol. COSTELLO: I think first ladyship is just fine.
Frank, can you put this into context for us? I mean, who appears on these lists the most over time?
NEWPORT: An interesting trivia question. Remember, the person has to have longevity. To have been on the top 10 list for many, many years, you have to have stayed alive. And guess what? Many people don't get this right. It's the evangelist Billy Graham, who has been on our list more than any other person, top 10 on the list. Going all the way back to just after World War II, he's been on the list, believe it or not, 46 years. He's on the top 10 again this year.
Then comes Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Truman and Nixon, three presidents come in, and they've been on the list 20 times each.
On the female side, it is the queen. She actually appeared on this list when she was the princess, before she was coronated in the 1950s. She's been on off and on many years since then, on 39 times. Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Margaret Thatcher, Mamie Eisenhower. And remember her? Margaret Chase Smith. She was a female senator from the state of Maine, I believe, and she used to appear very regularly on the list in the '50s and in the 1960s -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Very interesting numbers. Thank you. Frank Newport reporting live from Princeton, New Jersey, for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
