Obama, Trump tied for most admired man: Gallup

President Trump and former President Obama have finished 2019 tied as the “most admired men” in the U.S., according to new polling from Gallup.

Obama and Trump both received 18 percent of the vote for most admired man, according to Gallup, with no other man named by more than 2 percent of respondents.

The top 10 most admired men also included former President Carter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Pope Francis, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the Dalai Lama and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett.

Eleven percent of respondents said the man they admired most was a friend or relative, while 18 percent named someone else and 25 percent did not name anyone.

This was Obama’s 12th time in the top spot on the list and Trump’s first.

The sitting U.S. president has been named the most admired man in 58 of 72 polls Gallup has conducted since 1948.

The polling service says that Trump’s first appearance at the top of the list is attributable to improved approvals compared to his first two years in office, although admiration of Trump and Obama is sharply split along partisan lines.

Of respondents who identified as Republican, 45 percent named Trump their most admired while 41 percent of those identifying as Democrats named Obama. Mentions of Trump among Republicans increased about 10 percentage points from 2017 and 2018.

Obama, meanwhile, continues to poll unusually well for a former president, with Dwight Eisenhower the only other ex-president with a double-digit percentage naming him as most admired at any point after his time in the White House.

Eisenhower, like Obama, was named the most admired man 12 times in all, with eight instances encompassing his presidency. Unlike Obama, Eisenhower also secured the top spot once before he was elected, winning in 1950 when he was primarily known for his military leadership in World War II.