Why Is Obama So Popular? POTUS Beats Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Pope Francis As Most Admired Man

President Barack Obama bested President-elect Donald Trump as the most admired man in 2016, marking his ninth-consecutive win with a seven-point lead ahead of the incoming president in the annual Gallup poll released Wednesday. Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election, won the title for most admired woman, breaking records after receiving the honor for the 21st time – the 15th year in a row she’s been recognized by the majority of Americans surveyed.

Meanwhile, Obama is sailing through the end of his presidency with the highest approval ratings throughout his second term in office, as Trump suffers from less support than each of the last three incoming presidents.

With 55 percent of support from the majority of Americans nationwide, Obama’s popularity rests on a growing U.S. economy, a decline in the national unemployment rate, as well as growing support for Obamacare and other programs initiated under the current White House administration. The president’s ratings continued to rise along the 2016 presidential campaign trail, as he became a key battleground stumper for the woman he defeated in 2008, alongside his wife, Michelle Obama.

The couple are increasingly favored among the American population, though the first lady placed in second in Gallup’s most admired woman poll behind Clinton. Throughout the entirety of Obama’s presidency, he and Clinton have been considered the most admired leaders in the U.S. each year by the majority of Americans.

Roughly 22 percent of Americans surveyed consider Obama the most admired man in the country, earning him the ranking above Trump, Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders, who took fourth place with two percent of Americans naming him in 2016. Gallup surveyed a random sample of 1,028 adults living throughout the U.S. from Dec. 7-11.