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Pierre Laval: 1931 -

Pierre Laval became Prime Minister of France in 1931 and departed on a world tour, visiting the US, UK, and Germany. France was thriving and so was Laval's political career, earning him the title of Person of the Year. But Laval held many different political positions before becoming prime minister, and it's said that he had expressed both extreme leftist and far-right views at different times.

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Pierre Laval: 1931 -

In the 1940s, Laval was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs and was openly supportive of the rise of fascism and Nazi Germany, who he was convinced would win the war. He went on to collaborate with the Nazis and oversaw the extraction of thousands of French citizens who were sent to their deaths in concentration camps. He was executed for his crimes in 1945.

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Wallis Simpson: 1936 -

Wallis Simpson was the first woman to be given the title of Person of the Year in 1936. Unfortunately, her influence was not generally seen as positive. Simpson was an American divorcée who happened to be the love of King Edward VIII.

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Wallis Simpson: 1936 -

A king was not permitted to marry a divorced woman, so he chose to abdicate his throne in order to be with her. This was an enormous scandal and shame to the royal family at the time. On top of that, the couple were said to be Nazi sympathizers.

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Adolf Hitler: 1938 -

Adolf Hitler was named Person of the Year in 1938, the year before World War II broke out. He was one of the most reviled people in history, but his influence can't be denied, even if it was poisonous.

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Adolf Hitler: 1938 -

Time magazine explained their decision as follows: "Hitler became in 1938 the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today." Little did they know what would follow in the next several years.

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Joseph Stalin: 1939 -

Hitler was in good company the following year, as Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was chosen. Stalin was a ruthless authoritarian who is said to have racked up even more deaths than Hitler. Yet Time commented that Stalin had almost managed to deify himself through his bloody rise to supremacy.

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Joseph Stalin: 1942 -

Stalin was named Person of the Year for the second time in 1942. It was three years into World War II and Stalin had helped to turn the tide by fighting back the Nazis in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He was widely praised for saving the day and there were outpourings of grief and gratitude when he died in 1954.

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Harry S. Truman: 1945 -

Harry S. Truman served as vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but found himself elevated to the role of president when Roosevelt died after only serving a few months of his fourth term.

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Harry S. Truman: 1945 -

World War II was still raging in Japan, leaving Truman with difficult choices to make. History would likely say that he made the wrong choices. Truman chose to drop the newly-created atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing devastating destruction and killing almost 90,000 civilians.

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Mohammad Mossadegh: 1951 -

Mohammad Mossadegh was named Person of the Year in 1951 for actions that shaped the following decades for the Middle East. Mossadegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran and decided to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. They expelled Western oil companies from important oil refineries based in Abadan, Iran.

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Mohammad Mossadegh: 1951 -

This led to the Abadan Crisis, which led to a coup d'etat carried out by the US and UK, which eventually led to the Suez Canal Crisis.

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Nikita Khrushchev: 1957 -

Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union when Stalin died, and was named Person of the Year a few years later. He led the USSR through some of the most intense years of the Cold War, when US and Soviet relations fell apart after World War II.

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Nikita Khrushchev: 1957 -

In 1957, the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellites into space. This caused panic in the US and started the historic space race that would carry on for decades.

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William Westmoreland: 1965 -

William Westmoreland was an American military officer who commanded the US forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. He developed the strategy for the ground war and was responsible for increasing the number of soldiers sent to South Vietnam. The war was highly controversial and widely protested at home.

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William Westmoreland: 1965 -

In the late 1960s, rumors circulated that Westmoreland had downplayed the severity of the threat US troops faced in Vietnam to garner support for the war. Westmoreland denied that he had manipulated intelligence to create a false image of progress, and sued the CBS network who broadcasted a documentary with these allegations.

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Richard Nixon: 1971 - Richard Nixon, one of the most controversial presidents in US history, was named Person of the Year in 1971. At the time, he was applauded for his visit to communist China and his attempt to pull the troops out of Vietnam.

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Richard Nixon: 1971 -

But within a few years, the Watergate scandal had broken, Nixon was threatened with impeachment, and he finally resigned in 1974. Time magazine seemed to foreshadow this in their 1971 issue, commenting that he was "disconcertingly unpredictable."

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King Faisal: 1974 -

In 1974, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was causing chaos around the world. Saudi Arabia withdrew their oil from the world market as a form of protest against the Western nations that were seen to support Israel during the Arab–Israeli War.

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King Faisal: 1974 -

The embargo caused a worldwide oil crisis and prices went up by 400%. Capitalist Western countries scrambled to restructure as their reliance on Saudi oil left them high and dry, and a deep recession ensued.

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Ayatollah Khomeini: 1979 -

Ayatollah Khomeini was considered one of the most influential people of the 1970s. He was an Islamic cleric who gained power in Iran when the revolution took place. The pro-Western government was ousted, the Iran Hostage Crisis at the US embassy in Tehran occurred, and Khomeini brought strict Islamic reform to the country.

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Ayatollah Khomeini: 1979 -

Time magazine wrote that Ayatollah Khomeini loomed ominously over the world, his revolution threatening to upset the balance of power more than any event since World War II.

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Bill Clinton: 1992 - Initially, Bill Clinton was nominated Person of the Year for all the right reasons. In 1992, he had just been elected president for the first time, and was an energetic, hopeful leader.

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Bill Clinton: 1998 -

But by 1998, Clinton was immersed in a sex scandal that led to his impeachment. In reference to the uproar, Time accurately said "even if the fighting ended tomorrow, it will be years before the wreckage is cleared."

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Vladimir Putin: 2007 -

As Time managing editor Richard Stengel put it, “He’s not a good guy, but he’s done extraordinary things.” Vladimir Putin is an ex-KGB official who has been ruling over Russia with an iron fist in some shape or form for last 20-plus years.

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Vladimir Putin: 2007 -

In 2007, Time praised Putin for pulling his country out of chaos and giving it a seat at the table of power. They emphasized, however, that he had done so with great sacrifices to democratic principles.

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Donald Trump: 2016 - Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has been as polarizing figure who has divided the United States and the world. Time named him Person of the Year when he was elected president in 2016, saying he had shaken up the political system for better or for worse.

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Donald Trump: 2016 -

Those who supported Trump believed his campaign was a long overdue change from a stagnant system, and those who reviled him feared what he would do. Those on both sides of the coin believe he fulfilled their expectations.

Sources: (Time) (Business Insider) (The List) (Goliath)

See also: What impact will Trump’s mass deportations plan have on the economy?

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