controversy is bad bad bad!
Bad, maybe, but necessary to sell magazines. At least for TIME magazine. Every year was controversial among the editorial staff, but a few choices stand out: In 1938 the Man of the Year was Adolf Hitler. In 1939 it was Josef Stalin. Stalin made it again in '42. In 1967 Lyndon Johnson was the Man of the year even as the war was escalating. In '74 it was King Faisal, even though he caused long lines at the pumps by withholding oil in protest of Western support for Israel. In '79 it was the Ayatollah Khomeni, who probably doesn't need an introduction, and in the 80s they went with Reagan twice. More recently they have made Men of the Year people like Ted Turner, Newt Gingrich, and Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin the Man of the Year (or Person of the Year, as it has been called lately.) Yes, that's the same Putin you were responding to. He was Person of the year before, and probably will be again. Lots of life left in that crusty old Russian bastard. All those choices were highly controversial, not only among the editorial staff but among the readers. Controversy is bad if you're running for office, but if you're trying to sell magazines, it's necessary.
