The Time Person of the Year award has gained significant fame and recognition over the past few years.It was previously known as Man of the Year or Woman of the Year. It is a yearly edition of the United States news publication ‘Time’ that highlights and profiles a person, a group, an idea, or an object that has had the greatest influence on the events of the year.The custom of choosing the Person of the Year originated in 1927 when Time editors pondered the year’s newsmakers. It was also an endeavor to make up for the editorial humiliation of not having aviator Charles Lindbergh on the cover story following his momentous trans-Atlantic flight earlier that year.In the year 2009, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was named the Time Person of the Year. Further in this article, we will come across many unbelievable facts about him.Why not also check out our fun fact articles, the 2007 Time Person of the Year and Barack Obama facts.The Economist Who Was Time’s 2009 Person Of The YearTime magazine deemed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to be Person of the Year 2009, beating out finalists President Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, thus giving them the runners-up spots.Bernanke has guided the nation through the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.Prof. Bernanke is the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the United States’ central bank, which is the most powerful and least understood force affecting the American and global economy. The Federal Reserve controls the money supply, which is why those green bills with late presidents on them are called Federal Reserve Notes. It’s an independent government institution that manages monetary policy, which means it sets short-term interest rates. Its mild-mannered chairman, Ben Bernanke, has drastically enlarged those powers and remade the Federal Reserve since global credit markets began to implode.2009 Time Person Of The YearThe named person, Princeton’s Professor Ben Bernanke, was a major expert on the Great Depression.He saw that the passive Federal Reserve during the Great Depression contributed to the disaster, with its steadfast refusal to grow the money supply and terrible lack of innovation and experimentation. Chairman Bernanke was adamant that he would not be the Fed chairman who presided over Depression number two. So, when the turmoil in the US housing markets spread into the most critical global economic disaster in more than 75 years, he generated trillions of new dollars and poured them into the economy; engineered massive public rescues for failing private companies; lowered interest rates; lent to mutual funds, hedge funds, international banks, finance and investment banks, insurers, and other borrowers who had never dreamed of receiving federal cash; and resurrected delayed credit markets in everything from car loans to corporate paper. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet was dramatically expanded to three times its previous size; it revolutionized housing finance and investment with a breathtaking shopping spree for mortgage bonds. In general, the arena of central banking was generally transformed into a theater for experimentation.Bernanke understood this weak economy would be much worse if the Federal Reserve had not taken such extreme measures to avert panic, according to Time’s cover article on the central bank chair.He didn’t just change monetary policy in the United States; he also led an effort to preserve the global economy.We’ve been unable to source an image of Ben Bernanke and have used an image relevant to the Federal Reserve instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Ben Bernanke, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at [email protected].Powerful Time Person Of The YearBen Bernanke was a man of power and poise. Hence he was thought to be a good choice by Time Magazine.Many felt that he lacked the look-at-me attitude and listen-to-me appeal that some men with an oversize Washington office might possess. His arguments are often said to be methodical, based on statistics and the most recent scholarly research, rather than partisan or ideological. He has a professorial demeanor, which is understandable given that he spent the majority of his career as a professor. Bernanke was called ’the most powerful nerd on the planet’, according to Grunwald’s cover story.Time magazine felt that he understood that the world economy was bad, that 10% unemployment was far too high, that Wall Street bankers tended to be selfish people, and that Main Street continued to suffer. Banks are giving out generous bonuses, but they aren’t lending much. He could see why folks were irritated. Bernanke said that he was frustrated as well.He wished Americans to realize that he aided in the rescue of irresponsible behemoths on Wall Street solely to protect average Main Street residents. He understood how economic disasters turn into global tragedies better than anybody else.The fact that Ben Shalom Bernanke was the most essential figure driving the world’s most important economy was the main reason he was Time’s Person of the Year for 2009. Watkins also told her Enron employers that the company was on the verge of collapsing, which it did.Famous Time Person Of The YearThe title of Time’s Person of the Year was given to Professor Bernanke as a profile boost by Time magazine.The choice of Time’s Person of the Year placed the mild-mannered Bernanke, a former professor, among the US President Barack Obama, Pope John Paul II, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other notable world luminaries chosen by the magazine in previous years.The Senate is debated Bernanke’s candidacy for a second term as chairman, and while he was anticipated to be confirmed, public and congressional criticism of the Federal Reserve was at an all-time high.After the Time magazine title was renamed to Time Person of the Year in 1999; The Whistleblowers (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley, and Sherron Watkins) were chosen for recognition after the renaming in the year 2002, Melinda Gates (together with Bill Gates and Bono) in 2005, Angela Merkel in the year 2015, The Silence Breakers in 2017, Greta Thunberg in the year 2019, and Kamala Harris who had been elected vice president in 2020.Isabel Pascual (a farmworker), lobbyist Adama Iwu, actress Ashley Judd, software engineer Susan Fowler, artist Taylor Swift, and a hospital worker (trainee nurse) who wished to remain anonymous graced the cover. The magazine brought out a new cover in 2018 named ’the guardians’ Person of the Year. The guardians are journalists who have been assaulted or charged with crimes in an apparent attempt to stifle the free press around the world.Did you know…Time Person of the Year by Time magazine is a prestigious award. The Protester is the 2011 Time Person of the Year. 2011 was a year of global protests: a Tunisian fruit vendor self-immolated, thus igniting the Arab Spring; demonstrators subsequently launched the Occupy movement.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked learning about 2009 Time Person of the Year, then why not take a look at some facts about Pablo Picasso or victorian England facts.
The Time Person of the Year award has gained significant fame and recognition over the past few years.