Michelle Obama most admired woman for second year, annual Gallup poll finds

Former first lady Michelle Obama has been named America's most admired woman for the second year in a row, according to a Gallup poll conducted this month.

Ten percent of people surveyed by Gallup between Dec. 2 and Dec. 15 named Obama as the woman they most admired this year, living or dead. The number was 5% down from last year, when she garnered 15% of the vote amid promotion for her bestselling autobiography, "Becoming."

The second most admired woman in the country was Melania Trump, according to Gallup. Company officials said she was named most admired by 5% of respondents.

Sixteen percent of those polled named a female relative or close friend as the woman they most admired in 2019 while 21% mentioned a woman outside of the top 10 and 27% said they had no opinion.

Other women named as most admired this year include: media mogul Oprah Winfrey, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Gallup has asked Americans to name the man and woman living anywhere in the world whom they most admire every year since 1948. Interviews are held over the phone with a random sample of Americans above the age of 18.

Michelle Obama’s husband, former President Barack Obama, and Melania Trump’s husband, President Donald Trump, tied for the title of most admired man in 2019, according to Gallup.

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