Obama, Clinton top most admired list for 2011

US President Barack Obama and his Cabinet colleague Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have topped the list of the most admired people of the year 2011, according to a latest opinion poll.

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama continue to be named by Americans as the Most Admired Woman and Most Admired Man living today in any part of the world," Gallup Poll said based on its latest joint opinion poll with USA Today.

Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 10 years, and Obama has been the Most Admired Man four years in a row, it said.

Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and Condoleezza Rice round out the top five Most Admired women, while the top five Most Admired men also include George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Billy Graham, and Warren Buffett, it said.

Gallup said of the top 10 Most Admired men, four are government leaders (Obama, Clinton, Bush, and Newt Gingrich), three are business leaders (Buffett, Donald Trump, and Bill Gates), and three are religious leaders (Graham, Pope Benedict, and Thomas Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

Of the top 10 Most Admired women, eight are from government roles and two are from television (Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres).

One change in the list of Most Admired women is seen in Palin's fall from second place each of the last three years to fourth place this year.

Minnesota Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is the only first-time entrant among the top 10 women this year, it said.

According to Gallup, Hillary Clinton has now topped the list of Most Admired women a total of 16 times since 1993, finishing second in 1995 and 1996 to Mother Teresa and in 2001 to Laura Bush.

No other woman has been named Most Admired Woman as many times as Clinton, it said.