A bad omen? Clinton is man most admired by Americans - poll
WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - President Bill Clinton in 1998 was the man most admired by Americans and his rating was four percentage points higher than before the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal broke, a Gallup Poll showed on Thursday.
According to the poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, Clinton was listed first or second on the most admired list by 18 percent of those queried, far ahead of the second person on the list, Pope John Paul II, who got 7 percent.
That rating for Clinton, who has led the poll each of the last five years, was up from the 14 percent in 1997 before word of his affair with the former White House intern monopolized the nation's news.
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was the most admired woman with 28 percent, twice what her rating was the year before. She too has led the list for the past five years.
Behind the president and the Pope John Paul II were U.S. religious leader Billy Graham, with 5 percent, and basketball star Michael Jordan, with 4 percent.
Independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who conducted the investigation of Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, was most admired by 1 percent of the public putting him in 13th place, tied with civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Norman Schwarzkopf, the general who led U.S. forces in the Gulf War.
Twelve percent picked a friend or relative as the most admired.
Among the most admired women, entertainer Oprah Winfrey finished in second place far behind Mrs. Clinton with 8 percent.
Following her were Elizabeth Dole, head of the Red Cross, with 6 percent; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with 4 percent, and former first lady Barbara Bush and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, with 3 percent each.
The poll was conducted in telephone interviews with 1,055 adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points
Happy New Year to everyone here. DELL will do fine in '99.
JH |
