Surprising Persons of the Year
The Time magazine tradition is often mistaken to focus only on the heroes of society. But as we all know, history isn’t just made by heroes.
The Birth of the Person of the Year
Since 1927, Time magazine has released an issue where they highlight a Person of the Year. The tradition began when editors at Time wanted a way to highlight the news makers of the year.
The idea was born the same year that Charles Lindbergh completed his historic transatlantic flight. Time and its editors found itself trying to overcome a blunder. They had not featured Lindbergh on its cover throughout the year. As the year ended, they offered up a cover story and dubbed Lindbergh ‘Man of the Year.’ Two birds, one stone.
Today, it is one of the most anticipated publications of the year. Despite contrary belief, it doesn’t always feature heroes of society. The Person of the Year focuses on a person, group, idea, or object that, for better or worse, has done the most to influence events of the current year.
That’s why it may surprise some to learn who has previously been featured as a Time, Man or Person, of the Year. It brings perspective. Both to the state of the world, but the individuals or groups who influence it.
A Genocidal Dictator
In 1938, Time selected Adolf Hitler as its Man of the Year. He was selected for his powerful influence throughout Europe. Hitler adorned the cover of the magazine. The cover was powerful. It featured Hitler playing an organ that adorned with human corpses.
Time admonished his restoration of Germany’s military power and the threat it posed to the world. They labeled Hitler as ‘the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today.’
Nazi Germany would invade Poland a year later. This officially started the Second World War. The following years of war would directly lead to deaths of military and civilians in the estimated amount of 50-56 million.
Another Genocidal Dictator
A fierce rival of Hitler’s, and a man who was responsible for millions of genocidal deaths himself, Joseph Stalin was also featured as a Time Man of the Year…..twice. In 1939 and 1942, Stalin’s image made the cover of the anticipated Time edition.
In 1939, Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. Stalin had wanted to avoid war. Hitler believed the Soviet Union was “the greatest danger for the culture and civilization of mankind which had ever threatened it since the collapse of the ancient world.” Despite Hitler’s feelings, he did not want a two front war.
Time would note that Stalin’s actions ‘…sacrificed the good will of thousands of people the world over sympathetic to the ideals of Socialism,’ and that ‘he matched himself with Adolf Hitler as the world’s most hated man.’
Three years later, Time would reverse course. Hitler violated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and invaded the Soviet Union. As a result of Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet leader joined the Allies. Stalin was heralded for standing resolute against Hitler.
A Man Who Believed the US Was the “Greater Satan”
Perhaps the most controversial pick for Man of the Year was Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1979, Time featured the Supreme Leader of Iran on the cover. He had led the revolution that overthrew the pro-Western Shah. The Shah had been put into the position as a US-backed monarch.
Time called Khomeini a glorified terrorist. They also believed that ‘the revolution he led to triumph threatens to upset the world balance of power more than any other political event since Hitler’s conquest of Europe.’
At the time Time ran their publication featuring Khomeini, US Embassy staffers hostages in Tehran. There was a great deal of backlash at the timing and the selection given the situation.
Always a Controversy
If you visit Time’s website, you can learn more about how they select their Person of the Year. They speak to their goal of capturing a snapshot of the world and where it is going through that person. They look for someone or something that feels like a force of history. We appreciate forces of history here.
When you take a moment to review the list, there’s likely some you agree with and some you don’t. Some will likely lead to spirited debates, while others may warrant little more than an eye roll.
For instance, in 2007, Vladimir Putin was awarded the Person of the Year for his ‘resurrection of Russia to the global stage.’ Fifteen years later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received the award for standing up to Putin’s Russia.
One cannot ignore the annual publication’s ability to garner attention and drive conversation. After all, the same list that features the likes of Hitler and Stalin also includes Winston Churchill (1940), Queen Elizabeth II (1952), and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963). And hopefully revisiting the list spurs conversations around those previously identified forces of history.
History for the Hurried:
July 7, 1898: President William McKinley annexes Hawaii. In 1900, Congress made Hawaii an incorporated territory of the U.S. In 1959 it joined the Union.
July 8, 1776: The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence occurred as Colonel John Nixon read it to an assembled crowd in Philadelphia.
Powerful topic for debate!