New York — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was named today as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for her contributions with the Greek crisis and the fight against the Islamic State. She was described as “chancellor of a free world” on the magazine’s cover.
“You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow. For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is Time’s Person of the Year,” explained Nancy Gibbs, editor for the magazine.
Merkel won this year’s spot on Time’s cover over other candidates such as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Caitlyn Jenner, the Black Lives Matter movement, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who didn’t respond well to the magazine’s choice.
The business magnate and politician posted on his twitter complaining that Time hadn’t chosen him despite being “the big favorite,” and they had picked a person who “is ruining Germany” instead.
Trump, who’s currently leading Republican presidential polls, had previously challenged the magazine to award him with the title, despite falling behind other nine candidates in the surveys for the first spot.
The 61 years old German Chancellor happens to be the fourth woman since the late 20’s to be chosen as Time’s Person of the Year, and the first German since chancellor Willy Brandt, who was an important figure of peace during the Cold War.
Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s spokesman, said that he was sure the chancellor would take Time’s recognition as an encouragement for her political work in order to create a promising future for Germany and the rest of Europe.
Source: CBS News