Gallup Poll. (1998, December). Men and women most admired by Americans. (Reuters. [1999, January 1.]. Reported in the Boston Globe, p. A22.).

OVERVIEW

DESIGN

A random sample of 1,055 Americans were contacted by telephone. This study had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

FINDINGS

Twelve percent picked a friend or relative. Among other findings include the following:

MOST ADMIRED MEN IN THE WORLD

President Bill Clinton	18%
Pope John Paul II	7%
Billy Graham	5%
Michael Jordan	4%
Kenneth Starr, Jesse Jackson, Bob Dole, Tony Blair, Norman Schwartzkopf	1%

MOST ADMIRED WOMEN IN THE WORLD

Hillary Clinton	28%
Oprah Winfrey	8%
Elizabeth Dole	6%
Margaret Thatcher	4%
Barbara Bush and Madeleine Albright	3%

FURTHER NOTES

 

President Clinton’s rating is now 4% above what it was before the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

 

This poll did not ask how the President is doing his job as many other polls have done. About 75% of Americans give the President a high rating in terms of how he is conducting the office. This poll was about personal admiration.

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• Does this poll surprise you? Why or why not?
• What does this poll tell you about American culture at the end of the 1990s?
• How could you use this article and these statistics in a discussion about the values of our culture today?
• Laying the issue of the President aside, what else is useful for discussion here? How could you discuss heroes and role models generally? Why are some of the other persons on this list?

 

IMPLICATIONS

• Whatever party line one takes or opinion one holds about the President and his scandal, this should be surprising revelation.
• The American public is rightly disgusted with the politics of both parties. But politics aside, there must be a return to morality and truth.
• Some of those listed here are really worthy of our admiration.