Bush Named Time's Person of 2004

[CBright7831 0]

Bush Named Time's Person of 2004

 

By SAM DOLNICK

 

NEW YORK (AP) - After winning re-election and ``reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style,'' President George Bush for the second time was chosen as Time magazine's Person of the Year.

 

The magazine's editors tapped Bush ``for sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes - and ours - on his faith in the power of leadership.''

 

Time's 2004 Person of the Year package, on newsstands Monday, includes an Oval Office interview with Bush, an interview with his father, former President George H. W. Bush, and a profile of Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove.

 

In an interview with the magazine, Bush attributed his victory over Democratic candidate John Kerry to his foreign policy and the wars he began in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

 

``The election was about the use of American influence,'' Bush said.

 

 

After a grueling campaign, Bush remains a polarizing figure in America and around the world, and that's part of the reason he earned the magazine's honor, said Managing Editor Jim Kelly.

 

 

``Many, many Americans deeply wish he had not won,'' Kelly said in a telephone interview. ``And yet he did.''

 

 

In the Time article, Bush said he relishes that some people dislike him.

 

 

``I think the natural instinct for most people in the political world is that they want people to like them,'' Bush said. ``On the other hand, I think sometimes I take kind of a delight in who the critics are.''

 

 

Bush joins six other presidents who have twice won the magazine's top honor: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower (first as a general), Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Franklin Roosevelt holds the record with three nods from the editors.

 

 

Kelly said Bush has changed dramatically since he was named Person of the Year in 2000 after the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency.

 

 

``He is not the same man,'' Kelly said. ``He's a much more resolute man. He is personally as charming as ever but I think the kind of face he's shown to the American public is one of much, much greater determination.''

 

 

The magazine gives the honor to the person who had the greatest impact, good or bad, over the year.

 

 

Kelly said other candidates included Michael Moore and Mel Gibson, ``because in different ways their movies tapped in to deep cultural streams,'' and political strategist Rove, who is widely credited with engineering Bush's win. Kelly said choosing Rove alone would have taken away from the credit he said Bush deserves.

 

 

This is the first time an individual has won the award since 2001, when then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was celebrated for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

 

 

The American soldier earned the honor last year; in 2002, the magazine tapped Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who wrote a critical memo on FBI intelligence failures, and Cynthia Cooper and Sherron Watkins, who blew the whistle on scandals at Enron and Worldcom.

 

 

 

12/19/04 08:25

 

 

© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[2GOLD 0]

Makes sense.

The entire 2004 was based around him, either re-electing him or beating him.

No one else really stood out this year as deserving it.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

It had to be. A president hasn't been this over the news since Nixon.

[Guest netslob]

well, it has been a slow year.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Well, there goes my picks...

or

[AndrewTS 0]

In the Time article, Bush said he relishes that some people dislike him.

 

``I think the natural instinct for most people in the political world is that they want people to like them,'' Bush said. ``On the other hand, I think sometimes I take kind of a delight in who the critics are.''

 

Gold.

[Special K 0]

Yeah, people LOVE politicians.

 

Makes senes. After 4 years of bitterness and 're-elect Bush', he decisively won. If Kerry had won though I GAURANTEE you M. Moore would have been the man of the year. Gauranteed.

[Guest Phenom]

[CBright7831 0]

Yeah, people LOVE politicians.

 

Makes senes. After 4 years of bitterness and 're-elect Bush', he decisively won. If Kerry had won though I GAURANTEE you M. Moore would have been the man of the year. Gauranteed.

And you may be right.

[CBright7831 0]

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Hey, it's pretty much natural for the new President to automatically be Person of the Year. Although they held off with Clinton and went with him and Starr together in 98.

 

Although boy, contrasting that picture to his 2000 cover sure shows how he's been looking old fast.

[Highland 0]

The Presidency tends to do that. Look at pictures of FDR from the beginning of his time in office to the end. He ages far years than the years he spent in office.

[Special K 0]

Oh, yes. Long been a spculation of mine. Look at fuckin' LINCOLN. He went from regal president to broken down lookin' really quickly. Look at Reagan and Clinton. Over the 8 years they both aged 20. Bush got something in the first debate right. Being President is a hard job.

[Guest Smues]

Thank god Mikey Moorey didn't win, we'd never hear the end of it from him(and neither would the guy giving him hamburgers at McDonalds.)

[Jobber of the Week 0]

On the other hand, if he did run and win, McDonalds would have to give us back "Super Size" on executive order.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Thank god Mikey Moorey didn't win, we'd never hear the end of it from him(and neither would the guy giving him hamburgers at McDonalds.)

That is so funny, it's going on my sig. I'm a pretty liberal guy usually, and I hate Moore with a fucking passion

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Lyndon Johnson

[The Czech Republic 0]

Where's the obligatory reminder that Time's "Man Of The Year" does not mean the best, or most admirable person, but simply the most influential? After all, Adolf Hitler won Man Of The Year.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

And Bin Laden got screwed after 9-11.

[Highland 0]

They copped out with the ambiguous "American Soldier" decision, and picking Guiliani over bin Laden was definately based on fears of a boycott, even though Rudy was the only other person they could have picked in 2001.

[CBright7831 0]

They copped out with the ambiguous "American Soldier" decision, and picking Guiliani over bin Laden was definately based on fears of a boycott, even though Rudy was the only other person they could have picked in 2001.

Bush was another favorite to win in 2001.

[Highland 0]

They copped out with the ambiguous "American Soldier" decision, and picking Guiliani over bin Laden was definately based on fears of a boycott, even though Rudy was the only other person they could have picked in 2001.

Bush was another favorite to win in 2001.

He wasn't as influencial as bin Laden or Guiliani, thogh. He was close, but they were more so.

 

Is it usually the winning candidate that gets the MotY award during a presidential election year?

[CBright7831 0]

They copped out with the ambiguous "American Soldier" decision, and picking Guiliani over bin Laden was definately based on fears of a boycott, even though Rudy was the only other person they could have picked in 2001.

Bush was another favorite to win in 2001.

He wasn't as influencial as bin Laden or Guiliani, thogh. He was close, but they were more so.

 

Is it usually the winning candidate that gets the MotY award during a presidential election year?

I really don't know.

 

I only started following TIME's Person of the Year when they were considering Bin Laden for Person of the Year.

 

Then I did my research on it.

[Guest INXS]

Bush has certainly made a great impact.

 

Here's a Time cover I want to see:

 

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Don't worry, INXS. Just four more years...

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

 

Hey, it's pretty much natural for the new President to automatically be Person of the Year. Although they held off with Clinton and went with him and Starr together in 98.

 

Not many people know this, but the choice was originally pro wrestler Mickey Foley. In 1998, with his media publicized Hell In A Cell match in June, and the release of his own handwritten autobiography(at the time, a first among wrestlers) that fall, made for a strong candidate indeed. However, Time being an indirect business rival of the World Wrestling Federation, put a stop to that mighty quick.

 

Where's the obligatory reminder that Time's "Man Of The Year" does not mean the best, or most admirable person, but simply the most influential? After all, Adolf Hitler won Man Of The Year.

 

Beat me to it. For better or for worse(And I won't go on a rant here) Bush is the most INFLUENTIAL of the year.

 

And Bin Laden got screwed after 9-11.

 

See above. I did a controversial essay in my Grade 12 English, a choice of either: who has been the most influential Canadian, or has the most influence on Canadians. I said OBL, citing the generosity and neighbourly conduct we bewstowed on 9-11. Met with well deserved controversy, but I still defend it.

[Guest CronoT]

Sounds like Corporate ass-kissing to me.

[Slayer 0]

They say that portraits add ten years...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Not many people know this, but the choice was originally pro wrestler Mickey Foley.

You're confused.

 

What happened is that they had an online poll with a write-in candidate, and didn't do anything to prevent ballot box stuffing. People kept submitting Mick Foley over and over and over. I don't think the poll would really decide who went on the cover, but if it did, they changed their minds when they saw how flawed it was.

 

The same thing happened with Entertainment Weekly's Entertainer of the Year, where a bunch of webmasters and various people started submitting thousands and thousands of ballots for various web personalities, and pretty soon names like ~*BOB WUZ HERE*~ were being listed above all the Hollywood elite.

 

My own opinion is that the cover should be shared between Bush and Karl Rove. A lot of the hardball politics they credit Bush with is because of Rove, Bush went out and played the salesman while Rove played the game behind the curtains.