A month before his inauguration, Obama dislodged President George W. Bush from the top spot on the poll's "most admired" list, which Bush had held for seven years, the newspaper reported Friday.

Obama's performance was the first time a president-elect has topped the annual survey in more than 50 years as Bush fell to a distant second, USA Today said.

Other poll results showed U.S. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton leading the list of most-admired woman, repeating a showing she has posted for 13 of the past 16 years. A newcomer came in second: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Thirty-two percent of poll respondents listed Obama first or second in their choice for "most admired man," with 5 percent going for Bush, and 3 percent for McCain.

Twenty percent listed Clinton, 11 percent picked Palin and 8 percent chose Oprah Winfrey as "most admired woman."

The survey of 1,008 adults, taken Dec. 12-14 by telephone, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, pollsters said.