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Who Should Have Been TIME's Person Of The Year?
Donald Trump has been anointed TIME Magazine's Person of the Year for 2024. It came down to a shortlist of 10 finalists, and on Thursday, December 12, the erstwhile Apprentice/off-and-on PotUS is once again Person of the year, having been on the cover in 2016, when he first won elected office. So, this is as good a time as any to ask you who you think fits the bill of the Person of the Year. Did Time get it right with the '24 pick? If not, who would you pick to grace the magazine's annual ego-stroking, zeitgeist-defining cover?
The Person of the Year finalists, as revealed on the Today Show, also included Trump-adjacent rich dudes like Elon Musk, a fellow billionaire who helped him get there. Former Newsradio actor and Fear Factor host Joe Rogan is also among the potential Persons of the Year. Outside the US, Russia's dissident leader Yulia Navalnaya was on the list, along with heads of state Benjamin Netanyahu and Claudia Sheinbaum. There was even a British royal in the mix.
Keep in mind that TIME's aim is not to crown the most virtuous or laudable person every year; the idea is to a knowledge an especially influential figure, even if their influence wasn't positive. That said, it was a high-stakes crop of candidates this year. Only Trump gets to join last year's PotY, Taylor Swift, in the halls of news magazine glory. But you can vote up your preferred picks for Person of the Year, because you're almost as much of a magazine as TIME.
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The “First Lady” of Russian opposition, this economist and widow of the late Alexei Navalny, took on her husband's dissident role, challenging President Putin and gaining recognition as a leading figure in opposition to Russia's current regime.
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Mexico's first female and Jewish president, is facing tough issues like crime and economic challenges while standing firm against international political pressure, particularly at a fascinating moment in relations with the US.
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The Princess of Wales sparked conversation about privacy and public figures' health after announcing her battle with cancer and completing chemotherapy. She's been close to Person of the Year before, as one of TIME's most influential people in 2013.
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After Biden ended his presidential campaign, Kamala Harris aimed to become the first woman US President, focusing her campaign on reproductive rights and being an alternative to Trump. She lost, but helped define the culture and politics for a few months.
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He won the 2024 election, reshaping the American political landscape and becoming the first felon elected President. He's been TIME's Person of the Year before in 2016, when he first won elected office.
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Already a big shot as one of the richest people to ever live, Musk dived into politics by backing Trump, helping elect the former president with his revamped social media platform X, formerly Twitter, a platform that continues to devolve as a tidy metaphor for late stage capitalist excess. He was TIME's Person of the Year in 2021.
