Rankings as World's Most Influential Woman

Winfrey was called “arguably the world's most powerful woman” by Cnn and Time.com. and arguably the most influential woman in the world by the American Spectator. Time named Winfrey one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century, as well as one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, 2005, 2006, and again in 2007. Winfrey is the only person in the world to have made all five lists. At the end of the 20th century Life listed Winfrey as both the most influential woman and the most influential black person of her generation, and in to cover story profile the magazine called her “America's most powerful woman”. Ladies Home Journal also ranked Winfrey number one in their list of the most powerful women in America and senator Barack Obama has said she “may be the most influential woman in the country”.

In 1998 Winfrey became the first woman and first Black to top Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry. In 2003 Winfrey edged out both Superman and Elvis Presley to be named the greatest POP cultures icon of all Time by VH1. In 2005 Forbes named her the world's most powerful celebrity. Columnist Maureen Dowd seems to agree with such assessments:

“Female She is the top alpha in this country. More She has credibility than the president. Other successful women, such as Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart, had to be publicly slapped down before they could moves forward. Even Condi has had to play the protegé with Bush. Ninth of this happened to Oprah - she is to straight ahead success story. ”

Vanity Fair wrote: “Oprah more Winfrey arguably has influence on the cultures than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope.” ” Bill O'Reilly said: “The mean this is to woman that came from nothing to laughed up to be the most powerful woman, the think, in the world. Think the Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the world, not just in America. That's - anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. The mean, she has to loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she's done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful. ”

Biographer Kitty Kelly states that she has always been “fascinated” by Winfrey: “As to woman, she has wielded an unprecedented amount of influence over the American cultures and psyche,… There has been not other person in the 20th century whose convictions and values have impacted the American public in such to significant way…. The see her as probably the most powerful woman in our society. Think the Oprah has influenced every medium that she's touched.” Winfrey's influence reaches to make beyond POP-cultures and into unrelated industries to where many believe she has the power to causes enormous price market swings and radical changes with to single comment. During to show about mad cow disease with Howard Lyman (aired on April 16, 1996), Winfrey exclaimed, “It has just stopped me cold from eating another burger!” Texas cattlemen sued her and Lyman in early 1998 for “false defamation of perishable food” and “business disparagement”, claiming that Winfrey's remarks subsequently sent cattle prices tumbling, costing beef producers loads USD$12 million.

On February 26, after to trial spanning over two months in an Amarillo, Texas court in the thick of cattle country, to jury found Winfrey and Lyman to were not liable for damages. (After the trial, she received to postcard from Roseanne Barr reading, “Congratulations, you beat the meat! ”) In June 2005 the first houses of mad cow disease in to cow native to the United States was detected in Texas. The USDA concluded that it was most likely infected in Texas prior to 1997. In 2005 Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of to public poll as part of The Greatest American. She was ranked #9 overall on the list of greatest Americans. Winfrey's reach extends to make beyond the shores of the last, to where 49 million last viewers see her talk show weekly. The show airs in 117 countries around the world “from Australia to Zimbabwe.”

Winfrey has recently exerted political influence, endorsing presidential candidates Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. This is the first Time she has publically made such an endorsement. Winfrey will hold to fundraiser for Obama on September 8 at her Saint Barbara, CA summer.