Dec. 29 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump edged out former President Barack Obama to be named the most admired man in 2020, and former first lady Michelle Obama continued her three-year streak as most admired woman, a Gallup poll released Tuesday said.
Eighteen percent of respondents in the annual survey said they most admired Donald Trump, while 15% chose his predecessor. This year ended Barack Obama's 12-year run as most admired man; he and Donald Trump tied as the top choice in 2019.
Rounding out the Top 10 were President-elect Joe Biden with 6%, Dr. Anthony Fauci with 3%, Pope Francis with 2%, and Elon Musk, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Bill Gates, LeBron James and the Dalai Lama with 1% each.
Donald Trump has finished in the Top 10 list 10 times.
Meanwhile, 10% of respondents said they most admired Michelle Obama, her 13th Top 10 finish.
Runner-up was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with 6%, followed by first lady Melania Trump with 4%, Oprah Winfrey with 3%, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and British Queen Elizabeth II with 2% each, and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Greta Thunberg with 1% each.
Gallup said that in the 74 years it's asked an open-ended question about what man they admired most, the incumbent president has topped the list. In the 71 years Gallup's asked about the most admired woman, a current or former first lady has topped the list 57 times.
The survey response was sharply divided based on political leaning, with 48% of Republicans choosing Donald Trump and 8% choosing Melania Trump as their most admired people -- the highest percentages in their respective categories. Among Democrats, 32% chose Barack Obama and 17% chose Michelle Obama.
Independents were evenly split between Donald Trump and Barack Obama at 11% each.
Eleven percent of respondents named a friend or family members as the man they most admire, while 19% named someone they knew as the woman they most admire.
Gallup conducted the survey of 1,018 adults between Dec. 1-17 with a 4% margin of error.
