Hillary Is This Year's "Most Admired," Obviously

A Gallup poll released Monday presents Hillary Clinton as the most admired woman in 2014. This shouldn't be too surprising because she is A) amazing and B) at the top of the list for the 17th time in 18 years, and takes the Gallup record for most admired woman with a whopping 19 times at number one. So, basically, she is probably burning these certificates in place of firewood.

Clinton was the only figure to reach double digits in this year's vote, taking the win at 12 percent. She was followed by Oprah Winfrey at 8 percent; Malala Yousafzai at 5 percent; and Condoleezza Rice at 4 percent. Barack Obama was awarded most admired man with 19 percent of the votes.

The probable presidential contender had her smallest lead again the second-place spot since she edged out Oprah with a 2 percent lead in 2007. Watch out, Hilly! Oprah's coming for you. Gallup says that Clinton's lead is generally smaller when she is in a partisan role.

How has someone who has been out of public office for nearly two years retained her spot at the top? Just because she's out of office doesn't mean she is filing her nails. Sure, there were some dull spots in her perceived warm-up to become a 2016 contender. Her book sales were awful. Her People magazine cover sold horribly. She was nailed for speaking fees.

But there were some pretty great moments, too. Let's look at some of the, well, admirable things that Clinton did in 2014 to earn her title.

The Shoe Incident

A women hurled a shoe at the former U.S. Secretary of State as she gave a speech in Las Vegas. After asking if the object was a bat several times, Clinton recovered flawlessly with this:

Is that part of Cirque du Soleil? My goodness, I didn't know solid waste management was so controversial. Thank goodness she didn't play softball like I did.

Federal authorities nailed the shoe lobber with two criminal charges a few days later.

"I'm baaack!"

In September, Clinton returned to Iowa for the first time since her dismal showing in the 2008 caucuses. As she settled in to feed the fire for 2016, Clinton announced to the crowd, "I'm baaaack!" We're ready for you to be back, too.

A campaign tune-up?

Most of the speeches we've heard from Clinton in the last two years have centered on policy rather than politics. They have lacked the kind of fire you hear from a candidate. But in October, while stumping for Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf, Clinton had her campaign hat back on and ready. Freshly grandmother-ed, Clinton managed to weave in both the personal and political to her speech.

You should not have to be the grandchild of a president to get a good education, to get good healthcare. Let’s make sure we give every child in Pennsylvania the same chance that I’m determined to give my granddaughter.

Which brings us to...

Becoming a grandmother

Alright, so this one isn't completely on her, but when lil' Charlotte was born in September, there were speculations cast on how being a grandmother would affect Clinton's chance at a presidential run. Clinton embraced her "grandmother glow," and managed to brush off any sexist chatter that her much-awaited granddaughter would derail her plans.

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