Donald Trump may be the current president, but in terms of who Americans most admire, his predecessor and the person he beat in the 2016 election top the list. 

Barack Obama edged his successor as the most admired man for 2017, a Gallup poll finds, marking the first time since 2008 when a sitting president didn’t win the annual accolade. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is the woman Americans most admire for the 16th year in a row. 

It was a close race. Seventeen percent of those surveyed named Obama as the man they most admire, to 14 percent for Trump. To no surprise, there was a wide partisan split, with 35 percent of Republicans saying Trump was most admired man of the year, and 39 percent of Democrats picking Obama. 

"Trump’s unpopularity is holding him back from winning the most admired distinction," Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones wrote. "The incumbent president is the usual winner, since he is arguably the most prominent figure in the country -- but when the president is unpopular, other well-known and well-liked men have been able to finish first."

Last edited by Just Fred (12/27/2017 1:31 pm)