Trump Likely Time Magazine 2016 Person of the Year

In December, Time magazine will announce its 2016 winner, a tradition since 1927 – “selecting the person(s) who has had the most influence, for better or worse, over the last year.”

Past winners included Obama (2008 and 2012), Vladimir Putin (2007), Mahatma Gandhi (1930), Franklin Roosevelt (1932, 1934 and 1941), Adolph Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Jack Kennedy (1961), Richard Nixon (1971 and 1972), Ronald Reagan (1980 and 1983), Mikhail Gorbachev (1987 and 1989), Bill Clinton (1992 and 1998), GW Bush (2000 and 2004), and numerous other high-profile figures.

Trump looks like a shoe-in this year. Who else after his surprise electoral triumph, defying long odds and pundit predictions.

Called “Man of the Year” initially, in 1999, the award was changed to “Person of the Year.” Women recipients included Wallis Simpson (1936), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Angela Merkel (2015), among others.

Earlier awards went to Hungarian Freedom Fighters (1956), US Scientists (1960), The Middle Americans (1969), American Women (1975), and The Protester (2011), among other non-individual winners.

Since begun in 1927, all US presidents were named Person of the Year – except Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford. The only award recipient before and after becoming president was Dwight Eisenhower.

FDR was the only three-time winner. Time’s last 1989 issue named Mikhail Gorbachev “Man of the Decade.” On December 31, 1999, Albert Einstein was honored as “Person of the Century” – for representing a century of exploration and wonder.

In December, look for Time to announce Donald John Trump as its 2016 “Person of the Year.” Doing otherwise would break tradition.

Note:  Last year, Trump was one of eight contenders for the award, Time saying, at the time, his “populist populist rhetoric has made him the frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy and stirred debate about the party’s future.”