document_title: Time Person of the Year

question_text: who was selected as 2017 person of the year by time magazine

text: Time Person of the Year

text: Background[edit]

text: The tradition of selecting a "Man of the Year" began in 1927, with Time editors contemplating the news makers of the years. 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]

text: Selection[edit]

text: U.S. Presidents[edit]

text: Since the list began, every serving President of the United States has been a Man or 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 Man or 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).

text: Women[edit]

text: In 1999, the title was changed to Person of the Year.[4] Women who have been selected for recognition after the renaming include "The Whistleblowers" (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley, and Sherron Watkins in 2002), Melinda Gates (jointly with Bill Gates and Bono, in 2005), Angela Merkel in 2015 and "The Silence Breakers" (Isabel Pascual, Adama Iwu, Ashley Judd, Susan Fowler and Taylor Swift in 2017). Prior to 1999, four women were granted the title as individuals: three as "Woman of the Year"—Wallis Simpson (1936), Queen Elizabeth II (1952), and Corazon Aquino (1986)–and one as half of the "Man and Wife of the Year", Soong Mei-ling (1937).[5] "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), "The Protester" (2011) represented on the cover by a woman, and "Ebola fighters" (2014). Although the title on the magazine remained "Man of The Year" for both the 1956 "Hungarian Freedom Fighter" and the 1966 "Twenty-five and Under" editions which both featured a woman standing behind a man, and "Men of the Year" on the 1960 "U.S. Scientists" edition which exclusively featured men on its cover. It wasn't until the 1969 edition on "The Middle Americans" did the title embrace "Man and Woman of the Year".

text: Groups and non-humans[edit]

text: Despite the name, the title is not just granted to individuals. Pairs of people such as married couples and political opponents, classes of people, and inanimate objects have all been selected for the special year-end issue.

text:
Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, President and First Lady of China (1937)
William Anders, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, crew of Apollo 8 (1968)
Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, political allies (1972)
Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov, Cold War rivals (1983)
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk; Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, political leaders leading peace negotiations (1993)
Bill Clinton and Ken Starr, key figures in the Clinton impeachment (1998)
Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley and Sherron Watkins, whistleblowers (2002)
Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Bono, philanthropists (2005)

text:
The American fighting-man (1950)
The Hungarian freedom fighter (1956)
U.S. Scientists (1960)
The Inheritor (1966)
Middle Americans (1969)
American women (1975)
The American soldier (2003)
You (2006)
The Protester (2011)
Ebola fighters (2014)
The Silence Breakers (2017)

text:
The Computer (Machine of the Year, 1982)
The Endangered Earth (Planet of the Year, 1988)

text: Special awards[edit]

text: In 1949, Winston Churchill was named "Man of the Half-Century", and 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.[6]

text: Controversial choices[edit]

text: 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.[7] 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.[8]

text: As a result of the public backlash it received from the United States for naming Khomeini as Man of the Year in 1979, Time has since shied away from using figures who are controversial in the United States for commercial reasons, fearing reductions in sales or advertising revenue.[9]

text: Time's Person of the Year 2001, immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks, was New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani. 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 that year. 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 selected for symbolizing the American response to the September 11th attacks, and Albert Einstein selected for representing a century of scientific exploration and wonder.

text: 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, MySpace, YouTube, and Wikipedia).[10]

text: Withdrawn selections[edit]

text: In 1941, the fictional elephant Dumbo from the Disney movie of the same name was selected to be "Mammal of the Year", and a cover was created showing Dumbo in a formal portrait style. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 pre-empted the cover. The U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was named Man of the Year for a record third time, although Dumbo's Mammal of the Year profile still appeared on the inside pages of the magazine.[11]

text: Film-maker 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."[12]

text: On November 24, 2017, U.S. president Donald Trump posted on the social media network Twitter that Time editors had told him he would "probably" be named Person of the Year for a second time, conditional on an interview and photo shoot which he had refused. Time denied that they had made any such promises or conditions to Trump, who was named a runner-up.[13]

text: Online poll[edit]

text: Time magazine also holds an online poll for the readers to vote for who they believe to be the Person of the Year. While many mistakenly believe the winner of the poll to be the Person of the Year, the title, as mentioned above, is decided by the editors of Time. In the first online poll held in 1998, wrestler and activist Mick Foley won with over 50% of the votes.[14][15] Foley was removed from the poll, and the title was given to Bill Clinton and Ken Starr, which led to outrage from the fans of Foley who mistakenly believed the winner of the poll would be the winner of the title. 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.[16] Time continues to annually run an online poll for the "People's Choice", but stresses the decision on whom the magazine recognizes is not made by the poll, but by the magazine's editors.[17]

text: Persons of the Year[edit]

text:
Year
Image
Choice
Lifetime
Notes
Runners-up

1927

Lindbergh, CharlesCharles Lindbergh
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

Chrysler, WalterWalter Chrysler
1875–1940
In 1928, Chrysler oversaw a merger of his Chrysler Corporation with Dodge before beginning work on the Chrysler Building.

1929

Young, Owen D.Owen D. Young
1874–1962
Young chaired a committee which authored 1929's Young Plan, a program for settlement of German reparations after World War I.

1930

Gandhi, MahatmaMahatma Gandhi
1869–1948
Gandhi was the leader of the India's 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

Laval, PierrePierre Laval
1883–1945
Laval was first elected Prime Minister of France in 1931. Laval was popular in the American press at the time for opposing the Hoover Moratorium, a temporary freeze on World War I debt payments that was disliked in both France and the US.[18]

1932

Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt
1882–1945
Roosevelt won the 1932 US Presidential election by a landslide, defeating the incumbent, Herbert Hoover.

1933

Johnson, Hugh S.Hugh S. Johnson
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

Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt (2)
1882–1945
Roosevelt was President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. In 1934, Roosevelt's New Deal reforms were beginning to bear fruit.

1935

Selassie, HaileHaile Selassie
1892–1975
Selassie was Emperor of Ethiopia in 1935, when Italian forces invaded Ethiopia, starting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

1936

Simpson, WallisWallis Simpson
1896–1986
In 1936, Simpson's relationship with King Edward VIII led the king to abdicate his throne in order to marry her.

1937

Kai-shek, ChiangChiang Kai-shek
1887–1975
Chiang was Premier of the Republic of China at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

Mei-ling, SoongSoong Mei-ling
1898–2003
Soong was wife of Chiang Kai-shek from 1927 until his death in 1975. Addressed as Madame Chiang Kai-Shek by the magazine, she was recognized together with her husband as "Man & Wife of the Year".[5]

1938

Hitler, AdolfAdolf Hitler
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

Stalin, JosephJoseph Stalin
1878–1953
In 1939, Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 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

Churchill, WinstonWinston Churchill
1874–1965
Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation and the Battle of Britain.

1941

Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt (3)
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. The editors had already chosen Dumbo as their "Mammal of the Year" before the Pearl Harbor attack, but quickly changed it to Roosevelt.[11]

1942

Stalin, JosephJoseph Stalin (2)
1878–1953
By 1942, Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Premier of the Soviet Union, overseeing the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943).

1943

Marshall, GeorgeGeorge Marshall
1880–1959
As United States Army Chief of Staff in 1943, General Marshall was instrumental in organizing US actions in World War II.

1944

Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower
1890–1969
General Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during 1944's Operation Overlord.

1945

Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman
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

Byrnes, James F.James F. Byrnes
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

Marshall, GeorgeGeorge Marshall (2)
1880–1959
Appointed United States Secretary of State in 1947, Marshall was the architect of the Marshall Plan.

1948

Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman (2)
1884–1972
Truman was elected in his own right as President of the United States in 1948, considered to be one of the greatest election upsets in American history.[19][20][21]

1949

Churchill, WinstonWinston Churchill (2)
1874–1965
Proclaimed as the "Man of the half-century", Churchill had led Britain and the Allies to victory in WWII. In 1949, Churchill was Leader of the Opposition.

1950

American fighting !The American fighting-man

Representing U.S. troops involved in the Korean War (1950–1953).

1951

Mossadegh, MohammadMohammad Mossadegh
1882–1967
In 1951, Mossadegh was elected as Prime Minister of Iran and expelled western oil companies, starting the Abadan Crisis

1952

Elizabeth !Elizabeth II
Born in 1926
In 1952, Elizabeth acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom[a] upon the death of her father, King George VI

1953

Adenauer, KonradKonrad Adenauer
1876–1967
In 1953, Adenauer was re-elected as Chancellor of West Germany.

1954

Dulles, John FosterJohn Foster Dulles
1888–1959
As United States Secretary of State in 1954, Dulles was architect of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.

1955

Curtice, HarlowHarlow Curtice
1893–1962
Curtice was President of General Motors (GM) from 1953 to 1958. In 1955, GM sold five million vehicles and became the first corporation to earn US$1 billion in a single year.[22]

1956

Hungarian !The Hungarian freedom fighter

Representing Hungarian revolutionaries involved in the failed 1956 uprising.

1957

Khrushchev, NikitaNikita Khrushchev
1894–1971
In 1957, Khrushchev 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

de Gaulle, CharlesCharles de Gaulle
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

Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower (2)
1890–1969
Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

1960

Us Scientists !U.S. Scientists

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

Kennedy, John F.John F. Kennedy
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

John XXIII, PopePope John XXIII
1881–1963
John XXIII was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1958 to 1963. In 1962, he volunteered as a mediator in the Cuban Missile Crisis, gaining praise from both sides. He also initiated the Second Vatican Council that same year.

1963

King Jr., Martin LutherMartin Luther King Jr.
1929–1968
A leader of the Civil Rights Movement, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.

1964

Johnson, Lyndon B.Lyndon B. Johnson
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

Westmoreland, WilliamWilliam Westmoreland
1914–2005
General Westmoreland was commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

1966

Inheritor !The Inheritor

Representing a generation of American men and women, aged 25 and under.

1967

Johnson, Lyndon B.Lyndon B. Johnson (2)
1908–1973
Johnson was President of the United States from 1963 to 1969.

1968

Apollo !The Apollo 8 astronauts

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

Middle America !The Middle Americans

Also referred to as the silent majority.[23]

1970

Brandt, WillyWilly Brandt
1913–1992
As Chancellor of West 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".[24]

1971

Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon
1913–1994
Nixon was President of the United States from 1969 to 1974.

1972

Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon (2)
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

Kissinger, HenryHenry Kissinger
Born in 1923
Kissinger, as Nixon's National Security Advisor, travelled with the President to China in 1972.

1973

Sirica, JohnJohn Sirica
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

Faisal !King Faisal
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 Yom Kippur War.

1975

American women !American women

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

Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter
Born in 1924
In 1976, Carter was elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent President Gerald Ford.

1977

Sadat, AnwarAnwar Sadat
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

Xiaoping, DengDeng Xiaoping
1904–1997
China's Vice Premier. Deng overthrew Hua Guofeng to assume de facto control over China in 1978, as Paramount Leader.

1979

Khomeini, RuhollahRuhollah Khomeini
1902–1989
Khomeini led the 1979 Iranian Revolution, establishing himself as Supreme Leader.

1980

Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan
1911–2004
Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1980, defeating incumbent President Jimmy Carter.

1981

Wałęsa, LechLech Wałęsa
Born in 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

Computer !The Computer

Denoted "Machine of the Year" to herald the dawn of the Information Age.

1983

Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan (2)
1911–2004
In 1983, as President of the United States, Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada and championed the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Andropov, YuriYuri Andropov
1914–1984
Andropov, as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was a strong critic of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Andropov was hospitalized in August 1983 and subsequently died in 1984.

1984

Ueberroth, PeterPeter Ueberroth
Born in 1937
Ueberroth orchestrated the organization of the 1984 Summer Olympics, which involved a Soviet-led boycott.

1985

Xiaoping, DengDeng Xiaoping (2)
1904–1997
As Paramount Leader of China, Deng was acknowledged for "sweeping economic reforms that have challenged Marxist orthodoxies".[25]

1986

Aquino, CorazonCorazon Aquino
1933–2009
Aquino was a prominent figure in 1986's People Power Revolution, being elected President of the Philippines.

1987

Gorbachev, MikhailMikhail Gorbachev
Born in 1931
As General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev oversaw Perestroika political reforms in 1987.

1988

Endangered !The Endangered Earth

Planet of the Year, involving an aspect of Mother Nature.

1989

Gorbachev, MikhailMikhail Gorbachev (2)
Born in 1931
Acknowledged as "Man of the Decade". Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Soviet leader), oversaw 1989's first free Soviet elections before the fragmentation of the Eastern Bloc.

1990

Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush
Born in 1924
As President of the United States, Bush oversaw U.S. involvement in the Gulf War (1990–1991).

1991

Turner, TedTed Turner
Born in 1938
Founder of CNN. The piece particularly highlighted CNN's coverage of Operation Desert Storm and the Gulf War, proclaiming it "History as it happens".

1992

Clinton, BillBill Clinton
Born in 1946
Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, defeating incumbent President George H. W. Bush.

1993

Peacemakers !The Peacemakers

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

John Paul II, PopePope John Paul II
1920–2005
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.

1995

Gingrich, NewtNewt Gingrich
Born in 1943
Leader of the "Republican Revolution", a Republican party election landslide, which led to Gingrich being elected Speaker of the House.

1996

Ho, DavidDavid Ho
Born in 1952
Ho, a scientist, pioneered much AIDS research.

1997

Grove, AndrewAndrew Grove
1936–2016
In 1997, Grove was Chairman and CEO of Intel, recognized as a pioneer in the semiconductor industry.

1998

Clinton, BillBill Clinton (2)
Born in 1946
As President of the United States, Clinton was impeached in 1998 following the Lewinsky scandal. The Senate acquitted him of the charges.

Starr, KenKen Starr
Born in 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

Bezos, JeffJeff Bezos
Born in 1964
Bezos is founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

2000

Bush, George W.George W. Bush
Born in 1946
In 2000, Bush was elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Al Gore.

2001

Giuliani, RudyRudy Giuliani
Born in 1944
Giuliani was Mayor of New York City at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001, was selected as a symbol of America's response to the attacks.

2002

Whistleblowers !The Whistleblowers

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

American soldier !The American soldier (2)

Representing U.S. forces around the world, especially in the Iraq War (2003–2011).

2004

Bush, George W.George W. Bush (2)
Born in 1946
In 2004, Bush was re-elected President of the United States, overseeing U.S. involvement in the Iraq War.

2005

Good Samaritans !The Good Samaritans

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 richest person in the world, and his wife Melinda, founded the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

2006

You !You[10]

Representing individual content creators on the World Wide Web.

4 runners-up[show]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Hu Jintao
Kim Jong-il
James Baker
[26]

2007

Putin, VladimirVladimir Putin[27]
Born in 1952
In 2007, Putin was serving as President of Russia.

4 runners-up[show]

Al Gore
J. K. Rowling
Hu Jintao
David Petraeus
[28]

2008

Obama, BarackBarack Obama[29]
Born in 1961
In 2008, Obama was elected President of the United States, defeating John McCain.

4 runners-up[show]

Henry Paulson
Nicolas Sarkozy
Sarah Palin
Zhang Yimou
[30]

2009

Bernanke, BenBen Bernanke[31]
Born in 1953
Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Financial crisis of 2007–08.

4 runners-up[show]

Stanley McChrystal
The Chinese Worker
Nancy Pelosi
Usain Bolt
[32]

2010

Zuckerberg, MarkMark Zuckerberg[33]
Born in 1984
Founder of social-networking website Facebook.

4 runners-up[show]

The Tea Party
Hamid Karzai
Julian Assange
The Chilean Miners
[34]

2011

Protester !The Protester[35]

Representing many global protest movements — for example, the Arab Spring, the Indignants Movement, the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party movement — as well as protests in Chile, Greece, India and Russia among others.

4 runners-up[show]

William McRaven
Ai Weiwei
Paul Ryan
Kate Middleton
[36]

2012

Obama, BarackBarack Obama (2)[37]
Born in 1961
In 2012, Obama was re-elected President of the United States, defeating Mitt Romney.

8 runners-up[show]

Marissa Mayer
Mohammed Morsi
Undocumented Americans
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Malala Yousafzai
Tim Cook
The Higgs boson
Fabiola Gianotti
[38]

2013

Francis, PopePope Francis[39]
Born in 1936
Elected head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

9 runners-up[show]

Bashar Assad
Jeff Bezos
Ted Cruz
Miley Cyrus
Barack Obama
Hassan Rouhani
Kathleen Sebelius
Edward Snowden
Edith Windsor
[40]

2014

Ebola !Ebola fighters[41]

"Ebola fighters" refers to health care workers who helped stop the spread of Ebola virus disease during the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, including not only doctors and nurses, but also ambulance attendants, burial parties and others.[42]
Represented on the covers by Dr. Jerry Brown, the medical director at the Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia,[43][44] Dr. Kent Brantly, a physician with Samaritan's Purse and the first American to be infected in the 2014 outbreak,[44][45] Ella Watson-Stryker, a health promoter for Doctors Without Borders who is originally from the United States,[44][46] Foday Gallah, an ambulance supervisor and Ebola survivor from Monrovia, Liberia,[44][47] and Salome Karwah, a trainee nurse and counselor from Liberia whose parents died of Ebola,[44][48] as well as others mentioned in the article itself, such as Dr. Pardis Sabeti from the Broad Institute.

7 runners-up[show]

The Ferguson protesters
Vladimir Putin
Taylor Swift
Jack Ma
Tim Cook
Masoud Barzani
Roger Goodell
[49]

2015

Merkel, AngelaAngela Merkel
Born in 1954
Chancellor of Germany since 2005, recognized for leadership in the Greek debt crisis and European migrant crisis.[50]

7 runners-up[show]

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Black Lives Matter activists
Caitlyn Jenner
Travis Kalanick
Vladimir Putin
Hassan Rouhani
Donald Trump
[51]

2016

Trump, DonaldDonald Trump
Born in 1946
In 2016, Trump was elected President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton.

10 runners-up[show]

Simone Biles
Hillary Clinton
CRISPR scientists
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Nigel Farage
The Flint Whistleblowers
Beyoncé Knowles
Narendra Modi
Vladimir Putin
Mark Zuckerberg
[52]

2017

Silence Breakers !The Silence Breakers

The people who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment, including the figureheads of the Me Too movement. Represented on the cover by strawberry picker Isabel Pascual (pseudonym), lobbyist Adama Iwu, actress Ashley Judd, software engineer Susan Fowler, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, and a sixth woman, a hospital worker who wished to remain anonymous and whose face cannot be seen. The feature also specifically spotlights, in order, actress Alyssa Milano, activist Tarana Burke, actress Selma Blair, the seven plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Plaza Hotel, politician Sara Gelser, entrepreneur Lindsay Meyer, dishwasher Sandra Pezqueda, actress Rose McGowan, psychotherapist and writer Wendy Walsh, blogger Lindsey Reynolds, housekeeper Juana Melara, journalist Sandra Muller, actor Terry Crews, University of Rochester professors Celeste Kidd and Jessica Cantlon, journalist Megyn Kelly, journalist Jane Merrick, producer Zelda Perkins, European Parliament member Terry Reintke, charity worker Bex Bailey, art curator Amanda Schmitt, filmmaker Blaise Godbe Lipman, and an anonymous former office assistant. [53][54]

6 runners-up[show]

Donald Trump[b]
Xi Jinping
Robert Mueller
Kim Jong-un
Colin Kaepernick
Patty Jenkins
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