Remember September 2008? The month when the entire U.S. financial system almost collapsed? Ever since that pivotal moment, one person has been in the crosshairs, making decision after decision that has impacted nearly every American alive today.
That person is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Because of his monumental influence on the world’s most important economy, Bernanke has been named TIME magazine’s 2009 Person of the Year.
TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel called the Federal Reserve “the most powerful, least understood government force shaping our lives” as he revealed his magazine’s choice live on TODAY Wednesday morning.
“He was the great scholar of the Depression who saw another depression coming, and did everything he could to stop it,” Stengel said of Bernanke. “He's a controversial figure. He’s a Republican appointed by a Democratic president. It’s a really interesting combination of factors.”
How about Steve Jobs? Barack Obama?
The decision to name Bernanke Person of the Year followed weeks of debate and discussion among TIME editors and staff members. Here are others TIME considered for the distinction:
- TIME’s No. 2 runner-up after Bernanke was Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Stengel told TODAY’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira that McChrystal came “very close” to usurping Bernanke’s Person of the Year cover: “He really was the prime mover behind the change in Afghanistan strategy.”
- No. 3: The Chinese worker — an acknowledgement of an increasingly influential group of people in one of the world’s most powerful economies.
- No. 4: Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Speaker of the House.
- No. 5: Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter and Olympic gold medalist.
- Other contenders included Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple Inc., and President Barack Obama, who was named Person of the Year in 2008. “Obama could be Person of the Year every year, but not this year,” Stengel commented.
In the end, it was Bernanke’s sway over a global financial crisis that touched millions — if not billions — of lives that led to TIME’s decision. “He is influencing how the economy operates,” Stengel explained.
(Interestingly, more than 16,000 TODAYshow.com readers voted on their picks for Person of the Year and made decidedly different decisions. Readers’ top choice was Steve Jobs, who garnered 44 percent of the vote; the second pick was President Obama, who got 20 percent. Bernanke received backing from 3.2 percent of readers who participated.)
‘Very, very close to a depression’
The Person of the Year designation comes at a time when Bernanke, 56, is reeling from criticism on all sides and defending his record at the Federal Reserve — not to mention his very job. Earlier this month, he had to appear at a Senate hearing about his nomination to a second four-year term. A Senate committee will vote on his nomination on Thursday, one day before TIME’s Person of the Year edition hits newsstands.
“Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free fall,” Obama said at the time.
Bernanke’s confirmation appears to be secure, but it’s being debated as mistrust of the Federal Reserve approaches an all-time high. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas — author of a best-selling book called “End the Fed” — is part of a movement on Capitol Hill to rein in the central bank and subject its monetary policy to congressional audits. (Bernanke, who has long argued for the Fed to be more open and transparent, fears such audits could mire the Fed’s setting of interest rates in politics.)