- Opinion
- 07 Dec 16
Every December Time Magazine elects the person who had the greatest influence on the events of the year. The decision is made over better or worse influence.
It's hard to say that anyone had more influence over 2016's events than recently-elected US President Donald Trump.
Time Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Nancy Gibbs states that was a profound argument about whether his influence was for the better or for the worse.
This is the 90th time the magazine has named the most influenced Person of the Year, and despite the divided-opinions over Trump, the announcement was made today - he won the title of 2016 Person of the Year.
Even with Democrat Hillary Clinton singled out as a favourite, Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States in November. His politics represents racism, sexism and nativism, but it seems that he inspires his believers.
Explosively tempered and lacking previous political experience, the 70-year-old Republican billionaire overcame all prognoses and set himself up as a strong opponent.
With speeches centred on the frustrations and insecurities of Americans in a changing world, he has become the voice of change for millions of them.
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Time Magazine has historically given the president-elect or the president the title each election year.
President Obama was named the Person of the Year after both of his elections in 2008 and 2012. George W. Bush got it in 2000 and 2004. Bill Clinton earned the honour in 1992, while he split it in 1998 with Ken Starr, the lawyer whose investigations set the stage for the president’s impeachment.
Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton came in second.
Also ranked the top 11 : four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, pop icon Beyoncé, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian president Vladimir Putin, U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, The Flint whistleblowers, who uncovered the Michigan City’s toxic water problem, and CRISPR scientists, who discovered how to edit DNA.