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American Morning

So Whom Do You Admire the Most?

Aired December 27, 2001 - 07:53   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So whom do you admire the most? Ask that question of Americans, and you'll likely hear the same name over and over again. Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport, joins us this morning from Princeton, New Jersey with the results of a new poll -- Frank, take it away.

FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Miles, this is our classic question we've actually been asking for over 50 years: Who is the man living that you admire most anywhere in the world? And who is a woman living that you admire anywhere in the world?

Let's show you the results. This is the positive side of whom Americans tell us right now they're admiring. We'll go from the bottom up here for the top five list. Billy Graham, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, 2 percent mentioned these -- not a lot. But that puts them in the fifth place on our overall list, and we can go up from there. Pope John Paul II -- 3 percent mentioned. Rudy Giuliani "Times" Man of the Year -- he comes in third in our most admired list at 4 percent right there. Coming in in second place this year, Secretary of State Colin Powell. And overwhelmingly the most admired man by Americans this year, President George W. Bush. I'll come back to this -- 39 percent overall mention him.

What about on the female side of the ledger? Well, we can look at it again politically. It's National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- low numbers, but nevertheless, they come in at fifth place. Former First Lady Barbara Bush comes in here, then talk show hostess, Oprah Winfrey, the third most-admired woman in America. Senator, former First Lady Hillary Clinton in at 8 percent, and then our current first lady, Laura Bush, comes in beating Hillary Clinton at, Miles, 12 percent. So it's the first lady and the president, most admired man and woman this year -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: You've got to give Margaret Thatcher some credit for staying power there on that poll.

I'm curious, Frank, over the years, how frequently have presidents topped that poll. Is it fairly often?

NEWPORT: Yes. This is, again, top of mind, so the first lady and, of course, the president, as you mentioned generally -- not always, but generally do come in first. At 39 percent for George W. Bush this year, however, Miles, is the highest percent that any man has ever gotten in the history of the Gallup Poll. So Bush is just overwhelmingly most admired this year. Of course, 86 percent job approval rating is not surprising given what's been going on since September 11 -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Frank Newport with the Gallup Poll -- thank you very much. We appreciate it -- interesting poll.

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