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For other uses, see Person of the Year.

Person of the Year (called Man of the Year until 1999[1]) is an annual issue of the United States news magazine Time that features and profiles a person, group, idea or object that "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year".[2]

Background

The tradition of selecting a "Man of the Year" began in 1927, with Time editors contemplating news makers of the year. The idea was also an attempt to remedy the editorial embarrassment earlier that year of not having aviator Charles Lindbergh on its cover following his historic trans-Atlantic flight. By the end of the year, it was decided that a cover story featuring Lindbergh as the Man of the Year would serve both purposes.[3]

Since then, individual people, classes of people, the computer ("Machine of the Year" in 1982), and "Endangered Earth" ("Planet of the Year" in 1988) have all been selected for the special year-end issue. Despite the magazine's frequent statements to the contrary, the designation is often regarded as an honor, and spoken of as an award or prize, simply based on many previous selections of admirable people.[4] However Time magazine points out that controversial figures such as Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Nikita Khrushchev (1957) and Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) have also been granted the title for their impacts.[5]

In 1999, the title was changed to Person of the Year.[6] Women who have been selected for recognition after the renaming include "The Whistleblowers" (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley and Sherron Watkins in 2002) and Melinda Gates (jointly with Bill Gates and Bono, in 2005). Prior to 1999, four women were granted the title as individuals, as "Woman of the Year" – Wallis Simpson (1936), Soong May-ling (1937), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon Aquino (1986). "American Women" were recognized as a group in 1975. Other classes of people recognized comprise both men and women, such as "Hungarian Freedom Fighters" (1956), "U.S. Scientists" (1960), "The Inheritors" (1966), "The Middle Americans" (1969), "The American Soldier" (2003), "You" (2006) and "The Protester" (2011) represented on the cover by a woman.

Since the list began, every serving President of the United States has been a Person of the Year at least once with the exceptions of Calvin Coolidge, in office at time of the first issue, Herbert Hoover, the next U.S. president, and Gerald Ford. Most were named Person of the Year either the year they were elected or while they were in office; the only one to be given the title before being elected is Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1944 as Supreme Commander of the Allied Invasion Force, eight years before his election. He subsequently received the title again in 1959, while in office. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only person to have received the title three times, first as President-elect (1932) and later as the incumbent President (1934 and 1941).

The last issue of 1989 named Mikhail Gorbachev as "Man of the Decade". The December 31, 1999 issue of Time named Albert Einstein the "Person of the Century". Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi were chosen as runners-up.[7]

As a result of the public backlash it received from the United States for naming the Khomeini as Man of the Year in 1979, Time has shied away from using figures that are controversial in the United States due to commercial reasons.[8][volume & issue needed] Time's Person of the Year 2001, immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks, was New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, although the stated rules of selection, the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest effect on the year's news, made Osama bin Laden a more likely choice. The issue that declared Giuliani the Person of the Year included an article that mentioned Time's earlier decision to select the Ayatollah Khomeini and the 1999 rejection of Hitler as "Person of the Century". The article seemed to imply that Osama bin Laden was a stronger candidate than Giuliani, as Adolf Hitler was a stronger candidate than Albert Einstein. The selections were ultimately based on what the magazine describes as who they believed had a stronger influence on history and who represented either the year or the century the most. According to Time, Rudolph Giuliani was picked for symbolizing the American response to the September 11th attacks, and Albert Einstein picked for representing a century of scientific exploration and wonder.

Filmmaker Michael Moore claims that director Mel Gibson cost him the opportunity to be Person of the Year alongside Gibson in 2004. Moore's controversial political documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 became the highest-grossing documentary of all time the same year Gibson's The Passion of the Christ became a box-office success and also caused significant controversy. Moore said in an interview "I got a call right after the '04 election from an editor from Time Magazine. He said,' Time Magazine has picked you and Mel Gibson to be Time's Person of the Year to put on the cover, Right and Left, Mel and Mike. The only thing you have to do is pose for a picture with each other. And do an interview together.' I said 'OK.' They call Mel up, he agrees. They set the date and time in LA. I'm to fly there. He's flying from Australia. Something happens when he gets home... Next thing, Mel calls up and says, 'I'm not doing it. I've thought it over and it is not the right thing to do.' So they put Bush on the cover."[9]

Another controversial choice was the 2006 selection of "You", representing most if not all people for advancing the information age by using the Internet (via e.g. blogs, YouTube, MySpace and Wikipedia).[10]

Time Magazine held its first online poll to decide the Person of the Year in 1998. Wrestler and activist Mick Foley won with over 50% of votes.[11] Foley was removed from the poll, and the award was given to Clinton and Starr.[better source needed] In 2006, the poll winner by a wide margin was Hugo Chávez, with 35% of the votes. The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came in second. Time again ignored those results, not mentioning them in the announcement of the Person of the Year.[12] Time continues to annually run an online poll for the "People's Choice", but stresses the decision on who the magazine recognizes is made independently of this poll by the magazine's editors.[13]

Persons of the Year

Year Image Choice Lifetime Notes
1927 Charles Lindbergh  United States 1902–1974 In 1927, Lindbergh became the first person to fly a plane solo non-stop across the Atlantic, from New York to Paris.
1928

Walter Chrysler  United States 1875–1940 In 1928, Chrysler oversaw a merger of his Chrysler Corporation with Dodge before beginning work on the Chrysler Building.
1929 Owen D. Young  United States 1874–1962 Young chaired a committee which authored 1929's Young Plan, a program for settlement of German reparations after World War I.
1930 Mahatma Gandhi  India 1869–1948 Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement. In 1930, he led the Salt Satyagraha, a 240 mile march to protest the imposition of taxes on salt by the British Raj.
1931 Pierre Laval  France 1883–1945 Laval was first elected Prime Minister of France in 1931. Blocked internationally-backed loan package to Creditanstalt, leading to its failure.
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt  United States 1882–1945 Roosevelt won the 1932 US Presidential election by a landslide, defeating the incumbent, Herbert Hoover.
1933 Hugh S. Johnson  United States 1882–1942 In 1933, Johnson was appointed director of the National Recovery Administration, tasked by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to bring industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices.
1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt  United States 1882–1945 Roosevelt was President of the United States from 1933–1945.
1935 Haile Selassie I  Ethiopia 1892–1975 Selassie was Emperor of Ethiopia in 1935, when Italian forces invaded Ethiopia, starting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
1936 File:Wallis Simpson -1936.JPG Wallis Simpson  United States 1896–1986 In 1936, Simpson's relationship with King Edward VIII led the king to abdicate his thrones in order to marry her.
1937 Chiang Kai-shek  China 1887–1975 Chiang was Premier of the Republic of China at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
Soong May-ling  China 1898–2003 Soong was wife of Chiang Kai-shek from 1927 until his death in 1975.
1938 Adolf Hitler  Germany 1889–1945 As German Chancellor, Hitler oversaw the unification of Germany with Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938, after the Anschluss and Munich Agreement respectively.
1939 Joseph Stalin  Soviet Union 1878–1953 In 1939, Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union. He oversaw the signing of a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany before invading eastern Poland.
1940 Winston Churchill  United Kingdom 1874–1965 Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation and the Battle of Britain.
1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt  United States 1882–1945 Roosevelt was President of the United States in 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor, declaration of war against Japan and resulting entry of the United States into World War II.
1942 Joseph Stalin  Soviet Union 1878–1953 By 1942, Stalin was Premier of the Soviet Union, overseeing the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943).
1943 George Marshall  United States 1880–1959 As United States Army Chief of Staff in 1943, General Marshall was instrumental in organizing US actions in World War II.
1944 Dwight D. Eisenhower  United States 1890–1969 General Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during 1944's Operation Overlord.
1945 Harry S. Truman  United States 1884–1972 Truman became President of the United States after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, authorizing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1946 James F. Byrnes  United States 1879–1972 In 1946, Byrnes was United States Secretary of State during the Iran crisis of 1946, taking an increasingly hardline position in opposition to Stalin. His speech, "Restatement of Policy on Germany", set the tone of future US policy, repudiating the Morgenthau Plan economic policies and giving Germans hope for the future.
1947 George Marshall  United States 1880–1959 Appointed United States Secretary of State in 1947, Marshall was the architect of the Marshall Plan.
1948 Harry S. Truman  United States 1884–1972 Truman was elected in his own right as President of the United States in 1948, considered to be the greatest election upset in American history.[14][15][16]
1949 Winston Churchill  United Kingdom 1874–1965 Proclaimed as the "Man of the half-century", by 1949 Churchill was Leader of the Opposition.
1950 The American fighting-man  United States Representing U.S. troops involved in the Korean War (1950–1953).
1951 Mohammad Mossadegh  Iran 1882–1967 In 1951, Mossadegh was elected as Prime Minister of Iran, responsible for the Abadan Crisis
1952 Elizabeth II Commonwealth realms[n 1] 1926– In 1952, Elizabeth acceded to the thrones of United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ceylon, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa following the death of her father, King George VI
1953 Konrad Adenauer  West Germany 1876–1967 In 1953, Adenauer was re-elected as Chancellor of Germany.
1954 John Foster Dulles  United States 1888–1959 As United States Secretary of State in 1954, Dulles was architect of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
1955 Harlow Curtice  United States 1893–1962 Curtice was President of General Motors (GM) from 1953–1958. In 1955, GM sold five million vehicles and became the first corporation to earn US$1 billion in a single year.[17]
1956 The Hungarian freedom fighter  Hungary Representing Hungarian revolutionaries involved in the failed 1956 uprising.
1957 Nikita Khrushchev  Soviet Union 1894–1971 In 1957, Krushchev consolidated his leadership of the Soviet Union, surviving a plot to dismiss him by members of the Presidium, and leading the Soviet Union into the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik 1.
1958 Charles de Gaulle  France 1890–1970 De Gaulle was appointed Prime Minister of France in May 1958 and, following the collapse of the Fourth Republic and establishment of the Fifth Republic, was then elected President of France in December.
1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower  United States 1890–1969 Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953–1961.
1960 U.S. Scientists  United States Represented by George Beadle, Charles Draper, John Enders, Donald A. Glaser, Joshua Lederberg, Willard Libby, Linus Pauling, Edward Purcell, Isidor Rabi, Emilio Segrè, William Shockley, Edward Teller, Charles Townes, James Van Allen and Robert Woodward.
1961 John F. Kennedy  United States 1917–1963 Kennedy was inaugurated as President of the United States in 1961, ordering the failed invasion of Cuba by U.S.-trained Cuban exiles.
1962 Pope John XXIII  Vatican City
 Italy 		1881–1963 John XXIII was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1958–1963. In 1962, he volunteered as a mediator in the Cuban Missile Crisis, gaining praise from both sides.
1963 Martin Luther King, Jr.  United States 1929–1968 An African-American civil rights leader, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson  United States 1908–1973 Johnson was elected in his own right as President of the United States in 1964, before securing the passage of the Civil Rights Act, declaring a War on Poverty and escalating U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
1965 William Westmoreland  United States 1914–2005 General Westmoreland was commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
1966 The Inheritor Representing a generation of American men and women, aged 25 and under.
1967 Lyndon B. Johnson  United States 1908–1973 Johnson was President of the United States from 1963–1969.
1968 The Apollo 8 astronauts  United States In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 (William Anders, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell) became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit, orbiting the Moon and paving the way for the first manned Moon landings in 1969.
1969 The Middle Americans  United States Also referred to as the Silent Majority[18]
1970 Willy Brandt  West Germany 1913–1992 As Chancellor of Germany, Brandt was acknowledged for "seeking to bring about a fresh relationship between East and West" through his "bold approach to the Soviet Union and the East Bloc".[19]
1971 Richard Nixon  United States 1913–1994 Nixon was President of the United States from 1969–1974.
1972 Richard Nixon  United States 1913–1994 As President of the United States, Nixon visited China in 1972, the first U.S. President to do so. Nixon later secured the SALT I pact with the Soviet Union before being re-elected in one of the largest landslide election victories in American history
Henry Kissinger  United States 1923– Kissinger, as Nixon's National Security Advisor, travelled with the President to China in 1972.
1973 John Sirica  United States 1904–1992 In 1973, as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Sirica ordered President Nixon to turn over Watergate-related recordings of White House conversations.
1974 King Faisal  Saudi Arabia 1906–1975 Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia, was acknowledged in the wake of the oil crisis of 1973–1974, caused by Saudi Arabia withdrawing its oil from world markets in protest at Western support for Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
1975 American women  United States Represented by Susan Brownmiller, Kathleen Byerly, Alison Cheek, Jill Conway, Betty Ford, Ella Grasso, Carla Hills, Barbara Jordan, Billie Jean King, Carol Sutton, Susie Sharp, and Addie Wyatt.
1976 Jimmy Carter  United States 1924– In 1976, Carter was elected President of the United States.
1977 Anwar Sadat  Egypt 1918–1981 Sadat, as President of Egypt, traveled to Israel in 1977—the first Arab leader to do so—to discuss normalization of Egypt-Israel relations.
1978 Deng Xiaoping  China 1904–1997 Deng overthrew Hua Guofeng to assume de facto control over China in 1978, as Paramount Leader.
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini  Iran 1902–1989 Khomeini led the 1979 Iranian Revolution, establishing himself as Supreme Leader.
1980 Ronald Reagan  United States 1911–2004 Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1980.
1981 Lech Wałęsa  Poland 1943– Leader of the Polish Solidarity trade union and architect of the Gdańsk Agreement until his arrest and the imposition of martial law in December 1981.
1982 The Computer Machine of the Year
1983 Ronald Reagan  United States 1911–2004 In 1983, as President of the United States, Reagan ordered the Invasion of Grenada and championed the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Yuri Andropov  Soviet Union 1914–1984 Andropov, as Soviet leader, was a strong critic of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Andropov was hospitalized in August 1983 and died in 1984.
1984 Peter Ueberroth  United States 1937– Ueberroth orchestrated the organization of the 1984 Summer Olympics, which involved a Soviet-led boycott.
1985 Deng Xiaoping  China 1904–1997 As Paramount Leader of China, Deng was acknowledged for "sweeping economic reforms that have challenged Marxist orthodoxies".[20]
1986 Corazon C. Aquino  Philippines 1933–2009 Aquino was a prominent figure in 1986's People Power Revolution, being elected President of the Philippines.
1987 Mikhail Gorbachev  Soviet Union 1931– As leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev oversaw Perestroika political reforms in 1987.
1988 The Endangered Earth Planet of the Year
1989 Mikhail Gorbachev  Soviet Union 1931– Acknowledged as "Man of the Decade". Gorbachev, as Soviet leader, oversaw 1989's first free Soviet elections before the fragmentation of the Eastern Bloc.
1990 George H. W. Bush  United States 1924– As President of the United States, Bush oversaw U.S. involvement in the Gulf War (1990–1991).
1991 Ted Turner  United States 1938– Founder of CNN.
1992 Bill Clinton  United States 1946– Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992.
1993 The Peacemakers State of Palestine Palestinian Authority
 South Africa
 Israel 		Represented by Yasser Arafat, F.W. de Klerk, Nelson Mandela, and Yitzhak Rabin.
De Klerk, as State President of South Africa, oversaw Mandela's release from prison in 1990. The pair worked together to end the Apartheid system.
Arafat, as President of the Palestinian National Authority, and Rabin, as Prime Minister of Israel, signed the 1993 Oslo Accord, the first face-to-face agreement between Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
1994 Pope John Paul II  Vatican City
 Poland 		1920–2005 Head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978–2005.
1995 Newt Gingrich  United States 1943– Leader of the "Republican Revolution", a Republican party election landslide, which led to Gingrich being elected Speaker of the House.
1996 David Ho  Taiwan
 United States 		1952– Ho, a scientist, pioneered much AIDS research.
1997 Andrew Grove  Hungary
 United States 		1936– In 1997, Grove was Chairman and CEO of Intel, recognized as a pioneer in the semiconductor industry.
1998 Bill Clinton  United States 1946– As President of the United States, Clinton was impeached in 1998 following the Lewinsky scandal.
Ken Starr  United States 1946– Starr, a lawyer investigating various figures within the Clinton administration, published his Starr Report in 1998, opening the door for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
1999 Jeffrey P. Bezos  United States 1964– Bezos is founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
2000 George W. Bush  United States 1946– In 2000, Bush was elected President of the United States.
2001 Rudolph Giuliani  United States 1944– Giuliani was Mayor of New York City at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
2002 The Whistleblowers  United States Represented by Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley and Sherron Watkins.
In 2001, Watkins uncovered accounting irregularities in the financial reports of Enron, testifying before Congressional committees the following year. In 2002, Cooper exposed a $3.8 billion fraud at WorldCom. At the time, this was the largest incident of accounting fraud in U.S. history. In 2002, Rowley, an FBI agent, gave testimony about the FBI's mishandling of information related to the September 11 attacks of 2001.
2003 The American soldier  United States Representing U.S. forces around the world, especially in the Iraq War (2003–2011).
2004 George W. Bush  United States 1946– In 2004, Bush was re-elected President of the United States, overseeing U.S. involvement in the Iraq War.
2005 The Good Samaritans  Ireland
 United States 		Represented by Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates.
Bono, philanthropist and member of the rock band U2, helped to organise the 2005 Live 8 concerts. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and then-richest person in the world, and his wife Melinda, founded the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
2006 You[10] Represented by the individual content creator on the World Wide Web.
2007 Vladimir Putin[21]  Russia 1952– In 2007, Putin was serving as President of Russia.
2008 Barack Obama[22]  United States 1961– In 2008, Obama was elected President of the United States, becoming the first African-American U.S. President in January 2009.
2009 Ben Bernanke[23]  United States 1953– Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Financial crisis of 2007–2008.
2010 Mark Zuckerberg[24]  United States 1984– Founder of social-networking website Facebook.
2011 The Protester[25] Representing many global protest movements – for example, the Arab Spring, the Indignants Movement, Tea Party movement and Occupy Movement – as well as protests in Greece, India, Russia and Chile among others.
2012 Barack Obama[26]  United States 1961– In 2012, Obama was re-elected President of the United States.
2013 Pope Francis[27]  Vatican City
 Argentina 		1936– Elected head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
2014 Ebola Doctors and Nurses[28]  United Nations 2014

See also

Notes

  1. ^ No single flag is presented for Elizabeth II as she was in 1952 the sovereign of more than one independent state, specifically the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Pakistan, and South Africa

References

  1. ^ http://time.com/topic/person-of-the-year/
  2. ^ Person of the Year: 75th Anniversary Celebration (Special Collector's Edition ed.). New York: Time Books. 2002. OCLC 52817840. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Time (2002) p. 1. [volume & issue needed]
  4. ^ Time (2002) pp. 2, 79.
  5. ^ "Person of the Year: A Photo History - Notorious Leaders: Controversial Choices". Time. 2006-12-16. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  6. ^ The first "Person" of the Year (rather than "Man" of the Year) was Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com.
  7. ^ Golden, Frederic (January 3, 2000). "Person of the Century: Albert Einstein". Time. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  8. ^ Time (2002) p. 79. [volume & issue needed]
  9. ^ "Michael Moore Defends Cruise, Slags Gibson". Infectious Greed. 16 September 2006. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  10. ^ a b Lev Grossman (13 December 2006). "You — Yes, You — Are TIME's Person of the Year". Time. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  11. ^ "Mick Foley Cactus Jack Pro Wrestling Legend". Media Man International. 2012.
  12. ^ "Chavez wins "Person of the Year" poll ... Time magazine ignores result". Hands Off Venezuela. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  13. ^ Stacey Leasca (19 December 2012). "Time's 'Person of the Year' is Barack Obama". Global Post. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  14. ^ American Experience. "General Article: Presidential Politics". pbs.org.
  15. ^ Susan Rosegrant (April 18, 2012). University of Michigan (ed.). "ISR and the Truman/Dewey upset". isr.umich.edu.
  16. ^ Ben Cosgrove (2012-10-21). "BEHIND THE PICTURE: 'DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN'". TIME Magazine. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Harlow H. Curtice is dead at 69". The New York Times. 4 November 1962. Retrieved 2009-10-06. (fee for article)
  18. ^ Larsen, Roy (January 5, 1970). "A Letter From The Publisher". Time.
  19. ^ "Willy Brandt", Time Magazine, 4 January 1971, online archive. Retrieved 11 July 2007
  20. ^ Jennings Parrott (December 30, 1985). "Time Picks China's Deng Xiaoping as Man of the Year". Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Person of the Year 2007". Time. 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  22. ^ "Person of the Year 2008". Time. 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  23. ^ Grunwald, Michael (16 December 2009). "Person of the Year 2009". Time. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  24. ^ Grossman, Lev (15 December 2010). "Person of the Year 2010". Time. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  25. ^ Grunwald, Michael (14 December 2011). "Person of the Year 2011". Time. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  26. ^ "Person of the Year 2012". Time. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
  27. ^ "Pope Francis, The People's Pope". Time. 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  28. ^ {{cite news | author= | title=The Choice | url=http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters-choice/ |work=Time| accessdate=2014-12-10
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