The cover story: TIME's 2020 Person of the Year

Get the exclusive story behind the cover |

The Cover Story Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year By Edward Felsenthal Editor in Chief and CEO of TIME In the fall of any normal year, we pack a conference room at TIME's headquarters in New York City with reporters, producers and editors to debate who should be selected as Person of the Year, one of the most-watched franchises in journalism, one that has endured world wars and depressions, periods of conflict and years of peace—and now a global pandemic. This year, we held the meeting from our homes in cities around the world. Like so many of you, we've been working remotely and collaborating virtually. We met one another's families and pets as they popped into the camera; shared joys, concerns and anxieties; cared for and sometimes lost loved ones to this terrible disease. Some things did stay the same. As we've done for the past 93 years, different teams of journalists were launched on parallel projects for Person of the Year, without knowing who or what the ultimate choice would be. This year—as in 2016, when Donald Trump became Person of the Year following his victory—offered the additional dimension of a U.S. presidential election concluding around the time we normally start to lock in decisions. So on Dec. 7, I traveled to meet with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President–elect Kamala Harris at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del. We talked with them about the challenges of conducting a transition in the pandemic and about those ahead. From our distance of 16 ft., I asked Biden how much remote work and other aspects of our pandemic lives would continue once it was over. "I think we're going to get back to the ability to embrace one another," he said. "I think that's important." At one point, Biden stopped the proceedings to do that virtually by FaceTiming with the parents of our photographer Camila Falquez. The selection of Person of the Year is rarely easy, and this year was far more difficult than most. Predictions can make fools of all of us, but it seems safe to say that historians will look at 2020 as a crucial turning point on many fronts. In Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we have two individuals whose election mirrored and moved the major stories of this year and whose fates will shape the nation's role in the world and the future of the American experiment. Read the Story » Share the cover story

Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters. Subscribe to the magazine.

TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice.   Connect with TIME via Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters                            PRIVACY POLICY   YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS   TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508   Questions? Contact newsletters@time.com   Copyright © 2020 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails?You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog   *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally