Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most admired woman for the ninth year in a row.
The men's top five list also includes former President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former South African President Nelson Aandela and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Among the most admired women are former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Oprah Winfrey, first lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The USA Today-Gallup survey, conducted Dec. 10-12, is based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,019 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
