WASHINGTON -- Incoming president George Bush and outgoing first lady Nancy Reagan Monday were named male and female newsmakers of 1988 in a UPI poll of U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors. The presidential campaign was picked the No. 1 story.
Bush was the overwhelming choice as top male newsmaker, outpolling reform-minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and defeating Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, who finished second and third, respectively.
Vice President-elect Dan Quayle was fourth. Fifth was President Reagan, whose last year in office was highlighted by a summit, an arms treaty, the aftermath of the Iran-Contra scandal and getting Bush elected president.
Nancy Reagan was selected top female newsmaker thanks to a bevy of headlines -- from her 'Cold War' with Raisa Gorbachev to her 'Just Say No' war against drugs to her wars with former White House aides turned authors, including ex-chief of staff Donald Regan who disclosed her interest in astrology.
Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who managed to maintain office during turbulent times, placed a close second, followed by Tammy Faye Bakker of PTL scandal fame.
Tawana Brawley, the New York teenager who claimed to have been raped by a group of white men -- a charge ultimately rejected by a grand jury -- was fourth. Fifth place went to Jessica Hahn, the former PTL church secretary, now a radio talk show host -- and a figure in the sex scandal involving evangelist Jim Bakker.
A total of 117 UPI newspaper and broadcast subscribers participated in the poll.
The 1988 presidential campaign, criticized as being more about personal attacks than national issues, was the choice as top story, followed closely by presidential election itself and the U.S. drought.
The May 3 downing of an Iranian passenger jet by a U.S. Navy ship that mistook it for a war plane was fourth and Gorbachev's reform movement was fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 stories were: the PTL scandal, the United States' successful return to space; the end of the eight-year-old Iran-Iraq war; the U.S.-Soviet INF arms treaty and Hurricane Gilbert.
