TIME has a way of throwing a few surprises our way when it comes to their person of the year, and 2012 was no different! On Dec. 19, TIME’s Managing Editor Rick Stengel revealed that this year’s person of the year was President Barack Obama!

Rick said that Obama winning his second presidential term by a huge margin, as well as appealing to minority groups is a huge reason he was named person of the year for 2012.

“He’s creating a new allignment, a kind of a realignment that Ronald Regan did a few years ago,” Rick said on Today.

Rick has also had the opportunity to interview the president, and revealed his overall attitude is productive and optimistic — and will mean a positive progression for America.

“He feels like he has this new political capital now, and I think that we will start to see him talking from the heart,” Rick added.

This isn’t the first time TIME has chosen a president for their person of the year — George W. Bush was named person of the year in 2004, also following a successful reelection campaign. In 2001, TIME kept with the political theme when they chose Rudy Giuliana as person of the year for his work as mayor of New York City during the September 11 terrorist attacks.

TIME’s Person of the Year — The Magazine’s Past Ten Picks

2011: The Protester
2010: Mark Zuckerberg
2009: Ben Bernanke
2008: President Barack Obama
2007: Vladimir Putin
2006: You
2005: Bono, Melinda and Bill Gates
2004: President George W. Bush
2003: The American Soldier
2002: The Whistleblowers
2001: Rudy Giuliani

What do YOU think of Barack being named person of the year HollywoodLifers? Do you think he was the best choice?

– Christina Stiehl

More ‘TIME’ Magazine & Person Of The Year News:

1. ‘The Protestor’ Named TIME Magazine’s Person Of The Year 2011
2. Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year 2010
3. TIME Magazine Shows Mom Breastfeeding Three-Year-Old Son — Appropriate?

Kate Middleton? Gabby Giffords? Yes, these are some of the people included in TIME‘s list of the year’s most influential people, but when it came to naming its Person of the Year, the magazine’s editors had only one clear choice: “the protestor.” Yes, rather than bestowing the epic title on one singular person, it goes this year to a collection of individuals who changed the world forever.

Specifically referring to the Libyan protestors who ultimately ousted Muammar Gaddafi, TIME refers to the group as “the people who toppled governments and brought a sense of dignity to a people who didn’t have it before.”

Other names on this year’s list include Seal Team 6′s Admiral William McCraven, Congressman Paul Ryan, and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

At the tender age of 26-years-old Mark Zuckerberg has had a feature film made based on his life, attained a net worth of roughly $6.9 billion and now been named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” As Time explains, “In less than seven years, Zuckerberg wired together a twelfth of humanity into a single network, thereby creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind only China and India.” It has not been all good for Mark however, as those who have seen The Social Network know, and there have been numerous lawsuits along the way. He famously settled with one of Facebook’s original founders, Eduardo Saverin, as well as Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra for possibly taking the idea for Facebook from their site ConnectU. What do you think HollywoodLifers? Do you agree with this choice?

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