President Donald Trump & Former President Barack Obama – Rapid Reports Photo
Obama Leads New CNN/SSRS Poll as Most Admired U.S. President
A new national poll is drawing attention after former President Barack Obama emerged as the president Americans say they admire most. The CNN/SSRS survey asked respondents an open-ended question about which U.S. president, living or dead, they admired most. Obama received 30% of responses, placing him ahead of several other prominent presidents.
The result gives Obama a notable lead over former President Donald Trump, who was selected by 19% of respondents. Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan followed with 9% each, while John F. Kennedy received 6% and George Washington received 5%.
The findings are particularly interesting because the question was not limited to living presidents. Americans could choose from presidents across U.S. history, making Obama’s position at the top a reflection of how respondents currently view presidential legacies.
The survey also measured broader opinions of recent presidents. Obama received a 57% favorable rating among Americans, compared with 34% for President Donald Trump and 30% for former President Joe Biden.
Party identification played a major role in the results. Among Democrats, 64% identified Obama as the president they admired most. Among Republicans, however, Trump was the clear leader, with 53% selecting him, followed by Reagan at 18%.
The numbers also highlight how differently Americans view presidential leadership depending on their political affiliation. While Obama has strong support among Democrats, the survey shows that Republicans overwhelmingly continue to favor Trump when asked which president they admire most.
Independent voters are another important part of the picture. The CNN report noted that Obama’s favorability among independents was substantially higher than the ratings recorded for Trump and Biden, suggesting that his post-presidential image extends beyond his Democratic base.
The survey also provides an interesting look at how Americans remember older presidents. Among adults under 30, a significant share reported having no opinion of presidents such as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, illustrating how generational changes can influence historical perceptions.
The poll was conducted by SSRS for CNN among 2,480 U.S. adults between May 7 and May 31. Respondents were reached through a combination of online and telephone methods, and the full-sample margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
Importantly, the survey measures who respondents say they admire most; it is not an expert ranking of presidential performance or a definitive determination of the “greatest” president in American history. Those are different questions that can produce very different results.
Still, the findings are likely to fuel another debate over presidential legacies, political identity and how Americans evaluate leaders years after they leave office. With Obama leading the latest admiration question and Trump maintaining overwhelming support among Republicans, the numbers offer a revealing snapshot of how divided — and how politically different — Americans’ views of presidential history remain.
Benjamin Harris is a RapidReports front page contributor and editor,proud father of four.
