Time Person of the Year (Differently)

Charles Lindbergh on the cover as the first winner of Time Magazine's Man of the Year Award. (1927)

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

Background

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.

Persons of the Year

Year	Image or Cover	Choice	Life time	Notes	Nationality
1927		Charles Lindbergh	1902–1974	In 1927, Charles Lindbergh would make the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.	American
1928		Walter Chrysler	1875–1940	In 1928, Chrysler oversaw a merger of his Chrysler Corporation with Dodge before beginning work on the Chrysler Building.	American
1929		Owen D. Young	1874–1962	Young chaired a committee which authored 1929's Young Plan, a program for settlement of German reparations after the Great War.	American
1930		Mahatma Gandhi	1869–1948	Gandhi was the Gujarati independence leader of all Indian states. In 1930, he led the Salt Satyagraha, a 240-mile march to protest the imposition of taxes on salt.	Gujarati
1931		Pierre Laval	1869–1949	Laval was first elected as the Prime Minister of France in 1931. Laval was popular in the American press at the time for opposing the Lowden Moratorium, a temporary freeze on Great War debt payments that was disliked in both France and the U.S.	French
1932		Theodore Roosevelt Jr.	1887–1944	Roosevelt won the 1932 US Presidential election by a landslide, defeating Secretary of State Frank Kellogg.	American
1933		Hugh Johnson	1882–1942	In 1933, Johnson was appointed as thedirector of the National Recovery Administration. US President Roosevelt gave him the task of bringing industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices.	American
1934		Huey Long	1893–1935	Long was the president of the Confederate States from 1933 to 1935, and was pushing his progressive reform policies known as Share Our Wealth in 1934.	Confederate
1935/1936		Haile Selassie	1892–1975	As the Emperor of Ethiopia in 1935 and 1936, Selassie was one of the main figures in the Ethiopian resistance to annexation when Italy threatened to invade.	Ethiopian
1937		John Nance Garner	1868–1967	Garner was the president of the Confederate States in 1937, which was in the middle of the Confederate Civil War.	Confederate
1938		Wilhelm III of Germany	1882–1951	Wilhelm accedes to the throne of Germany following the abdication of his father.	German
1939		Joseph Stalin	1878–1953	In 1939, Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and de-facto leader of the Soviet Union.	Soviet Georgian
1940		Adolf Hitler	1889–1962	By 1940, Hitler's Pan-Germanic cultural movement "Hitlerism" had spread throughout Europe and had even lead to Sweden joining Germany in the Polish-German War.	German
1941		Dumbo		Because of war in Poland and in the Confederate States, Time Magazine decided to try to uplift the American Spirit by giving Disney's cartoon elephant Dumbo the title of Mammal of the Year.	N/A
1942		Clement Attlee	1874–1965	In 1942, Attlee oversaw peace talks between Germany and the Allies, ending the Polish-German War.	British
1943		Carter Glass	1858–1946	Appointed as the President of the Confederate States, he established the Confederate States Government-in-exile in 1943 following the fall of Richmond.	Confederate
1944		Thomas Dewey	1902–1971	Dewey won the 1944 U.S. Presidential election by a landslide, defeating the incumbent, Henry Wallace.	American
1945		Harry F. Byrd	1887–1966	In 1945, former Confederate Senator Harry Byrd is appointed the president of the Confederate States Government-in-exile.	Confederate
1946		Umberto II of Italy	1904–1983	In 1946, Umberto II becomes the King of Italy following the abdication of his father Victor Emmanuel III.	Italian
1947		Earl Long	1895–1960	In 1947, Long becomes the chairman of the Confederation of American Socialist States.	Confederate
1948		Thomas Dewey	1902–1971	Dewey was reelected as the president of the United States in 1948.	American
1949		Albert Einstein	1879–1955	In 1949, Einstein had been working on the possibility of using nuclear fission as a new power source for the later half of the century.	German
1950		Syngman Rhee	1875–1965	Prime Minister of Korea Syngman Rhee is awarded Man of the Year for his works in industrializing the nation in 1950.	Korean
1951		Clement Attlee	1883–1967	In 1951, Prime Minister Clement Attlee of the United Kingdom would have his famed A Nightmare Manifested speech in Toronto, in which he criticized the United State's continuous occupation of former Canadian territories won during the Anglo American War. Later that year, Clement met with CSSA Chairmen Earl Long, and continued to serve as Prime Minister following the general election that October.	British
1952		Khosrau IV	1919-1980	In 1952, Khosrau IV was restored to the throne of West Persia after the failed revolution, caused by the East Persian regime.	West Persian
1953		Charles A. Floyd	1904–1963	In 1953, Chairman Floyd of the CASS had begun purges through the government and military. As well as beginning military modernization and armament production.	Confederate
1954		John Foster Dulles	1888–1959	As the United States Secretary of State in 1954, Dulles was architect of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.	American
1955		Ferruccio Parri	1890–1981	In 1955, Ferruccio Parri, the former Prime Minister of Italy, becomes the first General Secretary of the Latin League, an organization which he was instrumental part of it's creation.	Italian
1956		Earl Warren	1891–1974	Earl Warren is reelected as the president of the United States in 1956. Earlier that year, Warren allowed the referendum votes in the US-occupied territories of Canada.	American
1957		Nikita 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.	Soviet Russian
1958		Charles de Gaulle	1890–1970	De Gaulle was appointed the Prime Minister of France in May 1958 and following the collapse of the Fourth Republic and establishment of the Fifth Republic, was then elected the President of France in December.	French
1959		Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.	1915–1963	In 1959 Vice President Joseph P. Kennedy would have his famed Sokolniki Debate with Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev which became a major media event for the United States.	American
1960		U.S. scientists		Represented by George Beadle, Charles Draper, John Enders, Donald A. Glaser, Joshua Lederberg, Willard Libby, Linus Pauling, Edward Purcell, James Van Allen, and Robert Woodward.	American
1961		Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.	1915–1963	Kennedy was inaugurated as the President of the United States in 1961, he also ordered the U.S. invasion of the CASS starting the American War.	American
1962		Pope Julius III	1881–1963	Julius III was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1960 to 1983. In 1962, he volunteered to serve as a mediator in the American War, hoping to end the conflict. He also initiated the Second Vatican Council that same year.	Italian Roman
1963		Maxentius Lecapenas	1884-1973	In 1963, Maxentius Lecapenas as the head of the Rhomanian Modernist Party becomes the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Byzantium for the 3rd time in his career.	Rhomanian
1964		Nelson Rockefeller	1908–1979	Rockefeller was elected in his own right as the president of the United States in 1964, before securing the passage of the Civil Rights Act, escalating U.S. involvement in the war against communism.	American
1965		Maxwell Taylor	1901–1987	General Taylor was the commander of U.S. forces in the Confederation of American Socialist States during the American War.	American
1966		Martin Luther King Jr.	1929–2006	In 1966, Religious and Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King returns back to Dixie after spending half a decade in exile in the United States. Also during this year, MLK would give his Dream for the Nation speech.	Confederate
1967		Longtai of China	1907–1976	In 1967, Longtai becomes Emperor of China following the death of his Brother Jingwei.	Chinese
1968/1969		The American soldier		Representing U.S. troops involved in the American War (1961–1978).	American
1970		Heinz Kissinger	1923-2023	In 1970, Heinz Kissinger term as the General Secretary of the German League would come to an end, later that year he would become Chancellor of the German Empire. He was the first Jewish General Secretary of the Germanic League and, the first Jewish Chancellor of the German Empire.	German
1971		Pedro III of Brazil	1909–1981	In 1971 Emperor Pedro III of Brazil celebrated his golden jubilee for his reign of 50 years, which was one of the major social events of the decade.	Brazilian
1972		Richard Nixon	1913–1972	As the President of the United States, Nixon visited Moscow in 1972, the first sitting U.S. President to do so. Nixon later secured the SALT I pact with the Soviet Union before his assassination in November of that year. (He is the first person to be awarded Person of the Year postmortem.)	American
1973		American women		Represented by Pat Nixon, Susan Brownmiller, Judy Agnew, Ella Grasso, Billie Jean King, Charlotte Reid, Shirley Chisholm, and Marilyn Monroe Kennedy.	American
1974		Jürgen Stefan, the first man on Mars		In 1974, the Germanic League's mission to Mars would become the first humans to reach another planet after a Soviet lunar landing four years prior (Luna 17). The manned space mission launched in 1973 as part of an international project originally started in 1969 called I.G.M.M.E. (International Germanic Manned Mars Expedition).	Germanic League
1975		Vyacheslav Molotov	1890-1986	In 1975 Vyacheslay Molotov would become acting First Secretary of the Soviet Union following Dmitry Ustinov's resignation, where he would oversee the dissolution of the USSR and the establishment of the Russian Federation.	Soviet Russian
1976		Sándor Kocsis	1929-2010	In 1976 Sándor Kocsis is elected General Secretary of the Germanic League, which he began the process of overseeing the distribution of money to help newly non-communist nations.	Danubian
1977		Robert Kennedy	1925-2017	In 1977 the newly elected US President, began working on finally ending the American War beginning peace talks between himself, along side President Jimmy Carter, with Chairmen Fidel Castro in the State of Cuba.	American
1978		Nekauba I	1952-1999	Nekauba I of Egypt is internationally recognized for her outstanding efforts in promoting the coexistence of different religious groups and negotiating peace in foreign religious conflicts.	Egyptian
1979		Martin Luther King Jr.	1929-2006	In 1979 MLK would be instrumental in the creation of the creation of the Civil Right act of 1979 in the Confederate States, ending Racial segregation in the nation.	Confederate
1980		Robert Kennedy	1925-2017	In 1980 President Kennedy would win reelection against George H W Bush in one of the biggest landsides victories in United States political history.	American
1981		Vladimir Nikolai Romanov	1951-2011	In 1981, Vladimir Romanov tried peacefully to reopen Russian borders to First World Nations, which resulted in the restoration of West Persian-Russian relations.	Russian
1982		The computer	N/A	Denoted "Machine of the Year" to herald the dawn of the Information Age.	N/A
1983		Lech Walesa	Born in 1943	Leader of the Polish Solidarity trade union and architect of the Gdańsk Agreement. Became the second Polish President.	Polish
1984		Gary Hart	Born in 1936	Gary Hart is elected as the president of the United States, defeating Unionist Governor Ed McMahon in the General Election and Senator Ted Kennedy in the Progressive Primary, in both of which he had been seen as the underdog candidate.	American
1985		Deng Xiaoping	1904–1997	As the Prime Minister of China, Deng was acknowledged for introducing Liberal reforms in the economy	Chinese
1986		Mikhail Kalashnikov	1919-2013	In 1986, Mikhail Kalashnikov is elected and beings his term as the president of Russia. He plans to build diplomatic relations with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to revive the old Soviet-era "friendship".	Russian
1987		Howard Baker	1925-2014	Howard Baker begins his term as President of the Confederate States of America, despite being considered Pro-United States, he begins pushing policies which would lead the nation for economic self sufficiency and rebuilding ties to Mexico.	Confederate
1988		Nelson Mandela	1918-2013	In 1988, Prime Minister Nelson Mandela establishes the constriction of the elective monarchy of Mutapa.	Mutapese
1989		Bob Dole	1923-2021	In 1989 President Dole begins his term as the president in which the President passes his fundamental tax relief and reform bill. He also ended the U.S.'s foreign aid to the Confederate States.	American
1990		Earth		Planet of the Year, the article discussed the environmental issues facing the planet, and those working to fix them.	N/A
1991		Michael I of Dacia	1921-2017	In 1991, the Moldovan Civil War comes to an end. King Michael I of Dacia becomes the Head of State of Moldova.	Dacian
1992		Sam Walton	1918-1992	Businessman Sam Walton businessman and entrepreneur successful has successfully expanded his company during the Confederate financial crisis buyout many rivals. In 1992 Walton began to open his Wal-marts in the United States, and by the time of his death he was the richest man in North America, and the second richest in the world. (He is only one of two people to be awarded Person of the Year postmortem.)	Confederate
1993		Bill Clinton	Born in 1946	In 1993, Bill Clinton begins his term as president of the Confederate States. Clinton began to push economic expansions to try and get the nation out it's financial crisis.	Confederate
1994		Kunlong	Born in 1946	In 1994, Kunlong would become the Empress of China following the death of her uncle. She is the first Female monarch of China since Empress Wu Zetian.	Chinese
1995		First responders		In 1995, the United States suffered a rise in domestic terrorism and public unrest across the nation. Times, decided to give the Person of the year to America's first responders as a way to say thank you.	American
1996		Jerry Brown	Born in 1938	In 1996, Jerry Brown would be elected president, defeating Senator Richard Lugar.	American
1997		Ellen DeGeneres	Born in 1958	In 1997, Confederate comedian and Forrest Gump star Ellen DeGeneres came out as lesbian in an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This would become a major political and social scandal for the Confederacy, as LGBT rights in the nation were brought to the political forefront.	Confederate
1998		Al Gore	Born in 1948	In 1998, Al Gore is elected as the president of the Confederacy, beating Governor Lamar Alexander and Businessman Ross Perot, in a highly contested election.	Confederate
1999		Jeff Bezos	Born in 1964	Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon.	American
2000		Jerry Brown	Born in 1938	Jerry Brown wins reelection against New Mexico Senator John McCain in one of the closest elections in US History.	American
2001		The American Dream		The American Dream was chosen as time's person of the year, as the magazine hoped that the United States would continue to follow the ideals of democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality during the 21st century.	American
2002		Millennials	Born in 1981 to 1996	The person of the year was given to the generation born between 1981 to 1996. Represented by Chess Prodigy Sergey Karjakin, actor Elijah Wood, actor Daniel Radcliffe, Olympic alpine skier Janica Kostelić, and Princess Angelique of Haiti.	N/A
2003		Garry Kasparov	Born in 1963	In 2003, Russian Chess Grand Master and political activist Kasparov would become a major critic of boss Russian President Putin and the Romanov family. This would lead to an assassination attempt on the man and much out cry from abroad for strengthening the nation's liberal democracy.	Russian
2004		Howard Dean	Born in 1948	In 2004, Dean is elected the president of the United States, defeating Progressive nominee John Kerry.	American
2005		Condoleezza Rice	Born in 1954	In 2005, newly elected President Rice of the Confederacy began having meetings with President Putin of Russia despite criticism from the United States. During the year, Rice also made statements telling her plans to rebuild the Confederacy close relations with Russia just as it had with Mexico.	Confederate
2006		Bill Gates	Born in 1955	In 2006 Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, one of the richest people in the world, and co-founder of the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is awarded Person of the Year for his company's technical advances and his charity work.	American
2007		J. K. Rowling	Born in 1965	In 2007, author J. K. Rowling released her final novel for her Harry Potter series, Deathly Ascension	British
2008		Tailong	Born in 1978	In 2008, Tailong would become the Emperor of China following the abdication of his mother. His coronation effectively ended the post-riot chaos in China.	Chinese
2009		Stanley A. McChrystal	Born in 1959	In 2009, US General McChrystal, over saw the addition of 40,000 US Troops on the Confederate border and modernizing American defenses apart of Operation Big Stick.	American
2010		Alexis Tsipras	Born in 1974	In 2010, Alexis Tsipras becomes the Prime Minister of Kingdom of Byzantium, as the head of the Coalition of the Rhomanian Left, which pulled off its first victory in over 20 years.	Rhomanian
2011		Mike Huckabee	Born in 1955	In 2011, President Huckabee of the Confederacy would begin raising military spending, and its close ties to its fellow BRAC nations.	Confederate
2012		Bill Richardson	Born in 1947	In 2012, Bill Richardson is elected the president of the United States, defeating Unionist Vice President John Kasich.	American
2013		Steve Jobs	Born in 1955	In 2013, Steve Jobs the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Apple INC, is awarded Person of the Year for the many technical advancements made by his company.	American
2014		Scotland Independence Movement		Represented by such groups as Yes! Scotland following a successful referendum campaign for independence.	Scottish
2015		Angelique	Born in 1988	In 2015, Angelique becomes the first Queen of the Kingdom of Haiti.	Haitian
2016		Marco Rubio	Born in 1971	Marco Rubio is elected the president of Confederacy, defeating Governor Rick Perry, Senator Bill Nelson, and Communist Activist Mariela Castro.	Confederate
2017		Tsai Ing-Wen	Born in 1956	In 2017, Tsai Ing-wen would become the Prime Minister of China as her Progressive Democratic Party won control of the Parliament ending the Social Conservatives's near decade control over Chinese politics.	Chinese
2018		Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	Born in 1989	In 2018 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be elected to the Confederate States Congress as a representative of Puerto Rico. Cortez was among 11 representative and 3 senators to be elected in 2018 for the Communist Party of the Confederacy, it's largest gain of seats since emerging from the remnants of the Communist Party in 1985.	Confederate
2019		Ilhan Omar	Born in 1982	In 2019, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is elected the President of Somalia for the Islamic Left Party. Omar's victory was seen as a large win for Islamic Socialism and was responsible for shaking up the Democrat Party dominated political establishment of Somalia.	Somali
2020		Benazir Bhutto	Born in 1953	In 2020, Bhutto resigned after ruling East Persia for nearly 30 years.	East Persian
2021		Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o	Born in 1938	In 2021, Thiong'o's faction won the Kenyan Civil War and Thiong'o resumed his term as the president of Kenya.	Kenyan
2022		Mike Pence	Born in 1959	As President of the United States, Pence had revealed an ambitious legislative agenda which included increased NASA funding and a larger military budget as tensions with the Confederate States rose throughout the summer of 2023.	American
2023		Isabella IV of Spain	Born in 2000	Isabella IV became a feminist symbol of hope for many girls and women around the globe who are being forced on arranged marriages.	Spanish