Poll: Secretary Clinton is America's 'most admired' woman for 17th time

WASHINGTON — Ailing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had something to smile about from her hospital bed Monday when she was named the woman most admired by Americans, for the 17th time.

Clinton topped the 2012 list compiled by Gallup, with 21 percent of those surveyed naming her as the woman they most looked up to this year.

It is the 11th straight time that Clinton has topped the annual poll, and the 17th altogether -- a first for Gallup.

The result "further solidifies her position as the most often named Most Admired Woman in Gallup's history -- a total of 17 times going back to her first year as first lady in 1993," the polling company said.

President Barack Obama was named the most admired man of the year by 30 percent of the 1,038 adults polled from December 19 to 22, his fifth time at the top of the list. Former South African president Nelson Mandela came in second with three percent support.

First Lady Michelle Obama came second to Clinton, with 5 percent of people naming her, and talk show diva Oprah Winfrey ran a close third.

In fourth place on the women's list was Clinton's predecessor Condoleezza Rice who was nominated by four percent of the poll's respondents.

Gallup first began to ask Americans to name the man they most admire living in any part of the world in 1946, and expanded it to women in 1948.

Clinton was being treated Monday in a New York hospital for a blood clot. Her top aide said she was admitted on Sunday and would be monitored closely by doctors for 48 hours.