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It’s About Time
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Business New Haven
12/10/2001
By: BNH
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At the end of each year, Time magazine names its “Person of the Year.” This is a much-anticipated event, and Time's annual selection is invariably the subject of vigorous debate among thoughtful news junkies.
This year, there is much speculation that the Time designee may be Osama bin Laden. Certainly, over the decades the venerable newsweekly founded by Henry Luce has taken pains to explain to readers that its Person of the Year is not a popularity contest, but an editorial judgment about who is the year's biggest newsmaker.
For example, in 1938 Time named Adolf Hitler “Man of the Year,” reflecting the reconfiguration of Europe stemming from the Austrian Anschluss and the Munich conference, which postponed an inevitable continental war for 14 months. The Nazi dictator, we're sure, had relatively few admirers among Time's readership.
If anything, bin Laden may have even fewer. Without question, however, he ranks high on the list of 2001's most prominent newsmakers for his presumed role in this country's greatest domestic disaster. If our nation's armed forces are up to the task, 2002 may prove much less of a landmark year for the Saudi outlaw.
Not that the Time folks are waiting for our phone call on this issue, but we would offer an alternate suggestion for “Person of the Year”: George Walker Bush, the 43rd President.
Many who voted for the Texas governor undoubtedly did so out of disdain for a Democratic candidate viewed as a proxy - despite efforts to distance himself from the incumbent - for a seriously tainted Bill Clinton.
But there is no mistaking the fact that Bush has emerged as a tremendous source of strength, steadiness and support in the weeks following the September 11 attacks. The man who was previously portrayed as callow and immature has grown in stature during America's greatest crisis of the last half-century by revealing his steadfastness and determination.
Almost immediately upon assuming the Oval Office, Bush faced a challenge unlike any of his recent predecessors. He has stood tall to the challenge of terrorism, and when we proclaims that “We will prevail,” We believe him. In addition, on issues such as the complex debate over stem-cell research, he has proved himself to be thoughtful and mature.
In 2001, George W. Bush is the person of the year - hands-down.
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