December already! Christmas is right around the corner, and then, for current events junkies, will come the speculation about whom Time Magazine will name as its "Person of the Year." This honor/distinction has been bestowed on the world's biggest newsmaker annually since 1927. Recently, I happened to review the entire list, which you can see here though for some reason it's a couple of years out of date and doesn't include Putin (2007) or Obama (2008).
Looking at the list in retrospect, I found that it's held up pretty well over time, though often only by virtue of making the most obvious choices. Many of the more "original" selections now seem passé, anachronistic, or just plain confusing. A few interesting points:
The Time Person of the Year has, far more often than not, been a politician (or national leader) - 57 over 82 years, or about two-thirds.
The Person-of-the-Year Alumni Club is Americocentric by about the same margin; that's less so than I had expected. Time is a U.S. magazine, with the typical U.S. media bias against covering international events (justifiably so, since so few people read foreign news), yet in twenty-eight of 82 years (about 1/3), the nod has gone to a non-American.
Time's editors have been very generous to U.S. Presidents; 20 in 82 years, or once per term. Beginning with FDR, every President except Ford has been featured on the cover at least once, but many hit the jackpot more often -- FDR (3), Truman (2), Eisenhower (2 as President, but also once in uniform), Johnson (2), Nixon (2 - one shared with Kissinger), Reagan (2 - one shared with Andropov), Clinton (2 - one shared with Kenneth Starr!), George W. Bush (2).
Some of the choices seem a bit embarrassing in hindsight. Were you aware that Hitler was Person of the Year for 1938? That was right before the invasion of Poland, of course. To make up for it, for 1939 Time picked Stalin, but focused on his villainy in making Hitler's war in Europe possible by signing a pact with Nazi Germany. But by 1942 they had to eat humble pie, choosing Stalin again, who had become our ally by that time.
Seemingly to add a bit of surprise from time to time, the title has been bestowed on whole groups at once: The American Soldier (2003) and his grandfather "G.I. Joe" (1950) (but by no means his son who fought in Vietnam); U.S. Scientists (1960 - 4 years after Sputnik); American women (rather belatedly, 1975), or "Young People" (1966). Most of these seem like simple copouts to me, especially the 2006 award to "You" (are you kidding me?).
Finally, I have to wonder about the choice of "things" as Person of the Year. Those were "The Computer" for 1982, and "The Endangered Earth" for 1988.
Ultimately, my favorites among the 82 years so far are the ones that are a bit quirky (Wallis Simpson, Haile Selassie); the people below the head-of-state level who effected major change (Newt Gingrich, Lech Walesa); and those who names evidently were common currency in decades past but don't ring any bells in my head today without going to wikipedia (Pierre Laval, Owen Young, or Harlow Curtice - by the way, Curtice and former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney share the experience of a hunt with a buddy that went wrong; Curtice killed his).
I knew Laval was the head of the Vichy French government in WW2 (and widely reviled for it) and Owen Young as the head of RCA, but Harlow Curtice stumped me. I had heard the name, but no recollection that he was the GM chief. I suppose his fame will last somewhat longer than Fritz Henderson who got the boot this week. One of my favorite no-one-knows name was one I first saw in the mid-80s on a list of Time winners - Mohammed Mosaddegh. If you don't remember, here is a hint: Theodore Roosevelt's grandson was linked to him in an unfravorable way.
Posted by: Joseph Lott | December 02, 2009 at 11:24 PM