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President Barack Obama is TIME magazine’s iconic Person of the Year, managing editor Rick Stengel revealed Wednesday as he unveiled the 2012 cover on TODAY.
“He’s basically the beneficiary and the author of a kind of a New America, a new demographic, a new cultural America that he is now the symbol of,” Stengel said.
Obama became the first Democratic president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win two consecutive re-elections with at least 50 percent of the vote, despite the highest unemployment rate in seven decades.
Stengel said Obama won support from a core group of voters who “actually don’t care about politics” and felt the president ignored partisanship to do his job.
“Using the coalition of the ascendant young voters, millennials, Hispanics minorities, he’s creating a new alignment, a kind of realignment like Ronald Reagan did 40 years ago,” he said.
This is Obama's second time on the cover with the iconic title. He also secured the title the last time he won election — in 2008, just after he became the first African American elected president.
The magazine's short list for this year's Person of the Year cover was revealed on TODAY, and tens of thousands of TODAY.com readers voted among the eight candidates. In addition to President Obama, they included Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!; Mohammed Morsi, president of Egypt; Undocumented Americans; Bill and Hillary Clinton; ; Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani student activist who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban; Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple; and the Higgs Boson and Italian physicist Fabiola Giannati.
Yousafzai, the 15-year-old targeted by the Taliban because she championed the cause of education for girls, narrowly defeated Obama in a TODAY poll.
As it has for the past 85 years, the weekly newsmagazine selected the person (or sometimes group, or thing) that its editors deemed had the single greatest impact during the past year, for better or for worse.
Time’s Person of the Year has been a perennial topic of year-end debate ever since aviator Charles Lindbergh was chosen the first Man of the Year back in 1927 (the title was amended to Person of the Year in 1999). But the title is not necessarily an accolade; while many presidents, political leaders, innovators and captains of industry have been cited, some of the more notorious Persons of the Year include Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1943 and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. There have also been more conceptual choices, such as “the American Fighting-Man” (1950), “Middle Americans” (1969), and last year’s choice, The Protester.
More from TIME magazine:
- TIME Person of the Year 2012
- President Obama: 'These Tragedies Must End'
- Malala Yousafzai and why education should in the foreign policy debate
- Apple CEO Tim Cook announces U.S. Mac production, warns: 'Don't bet against us'
- Mohammed Morsi's moment
- The Higgs boson, Fabiola Giannati and the Cathedral of Science
- Marissa Mayer's Wall Street debut sends Yahoo! stock surging
- Bill & Hillary Clinton: What will diplomacy look like in the 21st century?
- Undocumented Americans: Not legal, not leaving
- Slideshow: TIME Persons of the Year 1999-2011
Leave a Comment:
Dejected you feel.....hum? In time, better you will feel.
No surprise here. Oh, and don't forget to tune into "Hardcore Pawn". Great show, and it provides us with a birds eye view of Barry's "Obama Nation".
Sure it does with the stars as millionaires and their store makes millions off the show and their customers. Nasty owner's kids, which one do you like that fat girl, skinny brother, or boss man, whom on occasion proves he has a heart. Making millions is the American way is it not, regardless where you get the green.
I would say the King Hussein/Rapist Clinton way is not the American way. But if we hear it enough in lib-central, the sheep will believe it is.
He deserves more than person of the year. He got 51% of the country to believe his bull @!$%#. Amazing. The dumbing down of America is complete.
I can recall when Time magazine was the best the news world had to offer. Now its on a levelwith the National Enquirer. Man of the year lol.
I know I did the right thing when I cancelled my TIME subscription about 3 years ago,they had already gone completely to the left like half of our country has....
A toss up between Obama, Morsi and illegal aliens.
Tuff call.
Why not just pick one of the mall shooters or baby killers.
I know the right wingers don't like it but, Merry Christmas to all, and have a Happy New Year.
Merry Christmas left winger.
The editors of Time are nuts. Obama is the worst President we have ever had. It will be a cold day when I buy Time Magazine. If 16 trillion in debt, 8% unemployment, and 50% of the country on entitlements is a good record, then Time should fire their management and start over.
Hitler is jealous. He only won it once.
But oh, wait, W won it twice along with all the honors that go with being a war mutt, Ronnie won it once and the honors for being the coward of the Beirut Bombing, oh boy.
War mutt?? I believe the DEMS voted for the wars? Unlike the GOP who didn't vote for Obamacare, the best is yet to come liberal. Just wait until the TAXES hit! Dems are already trying to repeal some of the law, very funny!!!
Yup, voted for war on the Weeder's false intelligence, just like the taxes the Bush family avoided by moving residence from Maine to Texas. I believe we are speaking about Time Mag.'s cover. Sure will pay more taxes if Boehner doesn't corral his baggers, am prepared. FYI, GOP'ers spent 88 million in attempts to overturn the ACA--wasted taxpayer money on useless causes.
Person of the year ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ASSAD.
WHY? HUH?
I think it was an obvious choice. He did win the popular vote. BTW...it must be a really slow news day over on Fox, there can't be anyone reading their bull today......I'm sure as soon as you all saw the headline you couldn't click to this article fast enough to sprew your vileness. But hey,they are all reading NBC today, I might say, that's one of the smarter things most of them have done for awhile now.
Man of the year Chris Stevens would be politically embarrassing.
Ayatollah
Stalin
Charles Manson
Hitler
Obama
Good call. He fits right in.
You make a compelling case. I voted for the guy but now I see that he really IS a dictator. Thank you, MC Gusto, for showing me the light.
But Marge, MC forgot the War Monger and Conqueror of Grenada, why is that?
Yes, all hail the Conqueror of Grenada / Liberator of Panama / Maker-betterer of El Salvador / Fixer-upper of Nicaragua / Helper-outer of Guatemala and Seller-to-er of Iran. Oddly absent from MC's list.
The President of Iraq died yesterday. I guess NBC doesn't consider that newsworthy.
Oy vey, four more years of Obama insanity. Tell me, was it the $1.5 billion given to the Muslim Brotherhood, countless exhausting tv late night talk show appearances, having expensive taste (Michelle) but girl doesn't get a paycheck (snicker), or the contrived tear flicking photo op at a sad occasion that was NOT about him but he undeniably used for a photo op? That was cheap and wrong. Didn't watch it? Oh yeah, it's on youtube. At 0:35 the now famous tear flicking. Listen to all the camera's. Now that's just sad and pathetic. Person of the year?....oy vey. Here's the link in case you think I'm exaggerating.
dumbass america hater of the year...
only thing that makes obama smile,,,,DEAD AMERICANS...
great job
Getting lower don't, want to go into Chris Stevens or W?
TIME=
This
Is
My
Economy"........16,000,000,000,000 reasons why
Who reads that magazine anyway. If you look at their circulation they are swirling down the toilet.......just like our country with this idiot as our president.
So 20 years from now this article might read: "But the title is not necessarily an accolade; while many presidents, political leaders, innovators and captains of industry have been cited, some of the more notorious Persons of the Year include Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1943, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 and US President Barak Obama in 2012....."
Hitler was a liberal who promised his countrymen hope and change. He then divided his people, and got them fighting amongst themselves so he could consolidate and solidify his power. Sound familiar?
yep,,,just like odumbass
A much deserved acknowledgement for our president :). Let all the RACISTS, BIGOTS, and WHINERS weep!!! Keep in mind if you are not part of the solution you are the PROBLEM!!! I see a lot of them on this post (smh). I'd suggest you all pack your things and utilize your constitutional right to LEAVE THE COUNTRY!!! Good day.
that's right, anyone that doesn't root for your beloved they're automatically a rascist. What were you doing when Bush was president. Where you out there trying to help or just bitching from the side. Did you also tell the liberal actors and activist's that said they would leave the country if Bush were reelected? Guess what, none did.
Only people voting for King Hussein were the takers and negroes. Some were both.
Very disapointed in their choice not because I don't like him but felt the young girl in Pakistan deserved it more!!
I like Mr. Obama and voted for him. But he would be my person of the year if he can get to implement an assault weapon ban.
Yesterday I would have applauded this, but after learning that he is going to give up cost-of-living for seniors on social security I am sick. He is making all the lies that were being sent in emails for the past 2 years come true. People have been lying about him because they didn't get COLA because the cost of living actually didn't go up enough to satisfy the formula they put in place years ago. Now he's going to give it up, after a lot of us donated to his campaign and voted for him twice.
We all ask ourselves why these terrible school shootings continue to happen. Does anyone think it just could be that these young people who might be sitting on the edge due to other problems might just get tipped over by witnessing the lying, cheating, conniving politicians that are running our country into the ground? I'm sick of their act, let them go on SS instead of 100% pension, let them go on Medicare instead of their custom health coverage.
President Obama: A society is judged by how they treat their children, their seniors, and their unfortunate. Don't start taking money from the people who can do nothing about it, and have no way to recover from it.