Hillary Clinton, Obama most admired in 2012: poll

Clinton tops the list 11th year in a row, Obama for 5th straight time

Americans have voted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama as the most admired people in the world, according to Gallup polls.

Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 11 years, and Obama has been the Most Admired Man five years in a row.

Obama's wife Michelle, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are next in line behind Clinton on the Most Admired Woman list, while South African leader Nelson Mandela, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, evangelist Billy Graham, former President George W Bush, and Pope Benedict XVI follow Obama as Most Admired Man.

These results are based on a December 19-22 USA Today/Gallup poll. Gallup's Most Admired question is open-ended, asking Americans to name, without prompting, the man and the woman they most admire living in any part of the world.

Clinton's first-place finish this year further solidifies her position as the most often named Most Admired Woman in Gallup's history - a total of 17 times going back to her first year as first lady in 1993.

Clinton missed being Most Admired in 1995 and 1996 when she finished second to Mother Teresa, and in 2001, when she was second to then first lady Laura Bush.

This year, there were no men on the top 10 list from the world of business, while last year that group included Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, and Bill Gates.

Last year's lists for both men and women reflected the then-active Republican primary process and included Newt Gingrich on the men's list and Michele Bachmann on the women's list.