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Here's One List Miley Didn't Make

by Krystin Arneson

Despite having horrible approval ratings this year, Gallup's annual year-end poll of the most admired men and women has put President Barack Obama at the top of the list — for men. When it comes to women, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tops the list for the 12th year in a row. The poll includes public figures from around the world — the only criteria is that they must be living. Other contenders? Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey, Clint Eastwood, Malala Yousafzai, and Jimmy Carter, just to name a few.

While Clinton and Obama continue to top the charts, they're doing so with fewer votes than they have in previous years. Obama's votes dropped from 30 percent to 16 percent this year, and Clinton's decreased from 21 to 16 percent. Obama, as it's widely known, has had an "annus horribilis" (sounds dirty) what with the government literally shutting down and all.

As a White House press release Bustle received the other day put it:

"Hey everyone -- It's not exactly a secret that Washington hasn't worked as well as it should. Between the constant gridlock and partisanship, most people just tune this town out. That was especially true this year when the government literally shut down."

The White House is sulky, but even though Obama's had a tough year, the current president usually wins the most-admired title.

Clinton's decrease in overall popularity could be due to the fact that she's sort of stepped away from politics following the whole Benghazi mess last year: two months after the attack last year, Obama asked her to stay on, and she declined. Even though Clinton said she was quite happy to leave public office, some say that she's getting the bricks in place for an upcoming 2016 presidential run. But as of October, her approval rating had dropped 14 percent since leaving office.

So why the ratings drop now? Well, it’s not exactly clear: Since resigning, Clinton’s only made some speeches and done a New York Magazine cover story. It’s not exactly a botched healthcare-reform roll-out, for example.

On the women's side, Oprah Winfrey took second place with eight percent of votes — maybe because of the sense she seemed to instill in Lindsay Lohan in that interview earlier this year. Michelle Obama tied with Sarah Palin with five percent of votes. Yousafzai (human rights activist) and Condoleezza Rice (former secretary of state) finished with two percent, and Angelina Jolie (mastectomy awareness?), Angela Merkel (facilitator of Europe's most successful economy), Duchess Kate (baby boy/future king George), and Queen Elizabeth II (Queen, corgi owner, "Cabbage") all received one percent of votes.

The Queen, let it be known, has won 46 times. On a more conservative note, George W. Bush and the Pope each took eight percent of votes on the men's side, tying for second. Bill Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham had two percent each, and Bill Gates and Eastwood received one percent each. Carter made the list likely because of his human rights work, especially regarding the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Ted Cruz also made the list for the first time. Sigh.

Then again, between one-quarter and one-third of respondents historically check the "don't care" box in the poll, so maybe that says something.

(Image via TextsFromHillary)