Embattled & Beleaguered, Bush Is Still The Most Admired Man

December 26, 2007

In spite of 7 years of negative press, continual assaults from opponents and leading America in another unpopular war, President George W. Bush, 43rd President of the nation, tops Gallup's recent poll again for the Most Admired Man.

The Gallup Poll, based on random telephone interviews with 1,011 adults, was conducted from December 14 to 16 of this year. For the seventh year in a row, President Bush ranked number one as the Most Admired Man with 10% choosing him. Coming in second as Most Admired Man was former President Bill Clinton with 8% choosing him.

Traditionally, sitting Presidents have topped Gallup's Most Admired Polls each year. During his Presidency, Clinton ranked at the top every year with between 20% selecting him as he took office to just 6% choosing him as he left, tying him for the top spot that year was Pope John Paul II. President Bush enjoys a similar spread during his administration, ranging from a high of 39% in Dec 2001 to the current low of 10%.

Sitting President's have topped this poll every year since 1981, outgoing former President Carter being edged out also by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Of Bush winning with just 10% of those voting, Gallup says,

"That score is Bush's lowest in the seven years he has been named most admired man, and the fact that it is enough to win suggests that no dominant male personality has captured the public's admiration this year."

A curious claim from Gallup as in their December 2000 polling, they said,

"Bill Clinton has been at the top of this list of most admired men every year since he took office in 1993, with totals that ranged from 20% in 1993 to 18% in both 1996 and 1998. Last year, Clinton was on top with 10% of the vote,"

neglecting to mention that in that current poll, President Clinton tied with Pope John Paul II for Most Admired with just 6% of the vote.

Detractors of President Bush have a difficult time admitting it, but indicators show that America continues to prosper under President Bush's leadership. The Troop reinforcement is working in the Iraqi theater of the War on Terror, unemployment remains very low, the predicted recession has not occurred, inflation remains modest, consumer spending is the best in two years, while naysayers and those predicting doom and gloom continue to be proven wrong.

As the economy continues improving and even the War On Terror results in increased security at home and abroad, Republicans stand a chance of retaking control of the government in the upcoming elections, provided they can show they have learned their lesson on excessive and out of control spending.

With one year left in his second and final term as President, George W. Bush, in spite of everything thrown at him by the opposition, has remained strong and ignored attacks designed to cripple his ability to lead. Even with low overall approval numbers, he still leads the list of Most Admired, with the possibility of finishing his administration with even higher approval.

How history will judge the Bush years remains to be seen. Once all the smoke and dust settles from what is shaping up to be one of the dirtiest and nastiest campaigns in our history, suffering the worst attack upon our soil in our history, enduring unprecedented assaults on his character and abilities and leading a war to put an end to the three decades of terrorist attacks against American interests, George W. Bush will leave office with his head held high and many in America will look back fondly at him.

Lew