December 30, 1998
Web posted at: 5:00 p.m. EST (2200 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, December 30) -- Despite the House of Representatives' vote to impeach him, President Bill Clinton once again is the man most admired by the American public and Hillary Clinton is once again the public's most admired woman, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll.

When asked "What man have you heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most?" 18 percent of people surveyed named President Clinton as their first or second choice.

When asked the same question about women living today in any part of the world, 28 percent named Mrs. Clinton as their first or second choice. That was twice the number who did so a year ago. Her husband's 18 percent figure this year is slightly higher than the 14 percent he notched in 1997.

Why does Clinton rank as the public's most admired man even after his impeachment by the House on December 19?

For the last fifty years, every president with an approval rating greater than 50 percent at the end of the year has topped the list. Since 1948, the incumbent president has ranked at the top of the most admired list only seven times, and only when their approval ratings were low: Harry Truman in 1951 and 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and 1968, Richard Nixon in 1973, Gerald Ford in 1974 and Jimmy Carter in 1980.

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey was based on interviews with 1,055 adult Americans conducted December 28-29. The people who participated in the poll were given no choices; they had to answer without prompting.

Here are the rankings:

Most Admired Man

1. Bill Clinton
2. Pope John Paul II
3. Billy Graham
4. Michael Jordan

(No sampling error)

Most Admired Woman

1. Hillary Clinton
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Elizabeth Dole
4. Margaret Thatcher

(No sampling error)

Wednesday, December 30, 1998

• Hyde opposes preliminary vote on impeachment
• Poll: Bill, Hillary top most admired list
• Hastert will run for House speaker
• Gingrich pays off ethics penalty
• Sen. McCain prepares for a presidential bid
• Clinton announces plan to reorganize foreign affairs agencies
• Clinton starts New Year's retreat
• U.S. relaxes encryption restrictions
• Andrew Johnson gets wreath on grave
• Big spenders did well in '98 vote
• Sen. McCain exploring bid for GOP presidential nomination

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