It was the morning of December 7, 2016. The Today Show set was buzzing. When the cover was finally flipped around, there he was: Donald Trump, sitting in a Louis XV chair inside his private residence at Trump Tower. The headline didn’t pull any punches. It called him the "President of the Divided States of America."
Choosing the man of the year time magazine 2016 wasn’t exactly a shocker, but the fallout was massive.
People always forget that Time doesn't pick the "best" person. They pick the person who had the most influence on the news—for better or worse. It’s a distinction that gets lost in the social media shouting matches every single December. In 2016, there was no way it could have been anyone else. Trump had just pulled off the biggest political upset in modern American history, defeating Hillary Clinton and defying almost every major poll in the country.
Why the 2016 Selection Felt Different
Most years, the Person of the Year (the title officially changed from Man of the Year in 1999, though many still use the old term) is a bit of a celebration. Think of the "Ebola Fighters" in 2014 or "The Guardians" in 2018. But 2016 felt like a gut punch to half the country and a massive victory to the other half.
Nancy Gibbs, who was the editor-in-chief at the time, basically said the choice was inevitable. You can't ignore a guy who rewrote the rules of politics on a daily basis. He didn't have a traditional campaign. He didn't have the backing of the GOP establishment for a long time. He just had a Twitter account and a massive, roaring base of supporters.
The cover photo itself became a conspiracy theorist's dream. Some people pointed out that the "M" in TIME was positioned right above Trump's head, making it look like he had red horns. Time denied it, obviously. They’ve done that with dozens of covers over the years, including ones featuring Pope John Paul II and Bill Clinton. It's just a design quirk of the masthead.
The Runners-Up Who Almost Made It
Hillary Clinton was the number two spot. Honestly, it makes sense. She won the popular vote by nearly 3 million, and she was the first woman to lead a major party ticket. If she had won the Electoral College, she would have been the face on that cover.
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Then you had the "Hackers." This was a nod to the cybersecurity breaches that defined the election—the DNC leaks, the John Podesta emails, and the general sense that our digital lives were being weaponized. It’s wild to look back now and see how early that was in the grand scheme of "fake news" and foreign interference.
Others in the top five included:
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: The Turkish President who had just survived a coup attempt.
- The CRISPR Scientists: The folks who found a way to edit DNA. That’s probably the most "important" thing on the list if we're talking about the long-term history of the human race, but it doesn't move magazines like a gold-plated penthouse does.
- Beyoncé: Because, well, Lemonade was everywhere.
The "Divided States" Tagline
That subtitle on the cover—President of the Divided States of America—was a pointed choice. It signaled that Time wasn't just reporting on a victory; they were reporting on a fracture. Trump told Matt Lauer at the time that he found the phrase "snarky," even though he was generally happy to be on the cover. He’d actually been complaining for years that Time had never picked him.
He had a weird obsession with it. He even had fake Time covers framed and hung in some of his golf clubs. Imagine the irony of finally getting the real thing and then getting hit with a tagline that essentially calls you a Great Divider.
But looking back from a decade later, was it accurate? Yeah. Whether you love the guy or hate him, the 2016 election drew a line in the sand that hasn't really gone away. It changed the way families talk at Thanksgiving. It changed how we consume news. It changed the Supreme Court for a generation.
Behind the Scenes of the Photo Shoot
The photographer was Nadav Kander. He’s a legend. He took the photo in Trump’s private residence, which is basically an explosion of 24-karat gold and marble.
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The lighting was moody. Very shadows-and-highlights. Trump is looking back over his shoulder, almost like he’s daring the viewer to say something. It wasn't a "presidential" portrait in the traditional sense. It didn't have the flags or the Oval Office desk. It had a worn-out chair and a man who looked like he was ready to dismantle the system he just conquered.
Kander later mentioned that he wanted to capture the "intensity" of the moment. He succeeded. It’s one of those images that looks different depending on your own politics. If you supported Trump, he looked like a king in his castle. If you didn't, he looked like a villain in a noir film.
The Backstory of the Award
Time started this whole "Man of the Year" thing in 1927. The first one was Charles Lindbergh. Why? Because they had messed up and didn't put him on the cover when he flew across the Atlantic, so they made up a "year-end" award to cover their tracks.
Since then, it’s been a mix of the saintly and the sinister.
- Adolf Hitler won it in 1938.
- Joseph Stalin won it twice.
- The Ayatollah Khomeini won it in 1979.
The point is that the man of the year time magazine 2016 selection followed a long tradition of documenting power, not necessarily virtue. When Trump joined this list, he wasn't joining a hall of fame; he was joining a ledger of history.
The Impact on Media and Culture
After the 2016 issue hit stands, subscriptions actually spiked. People were obsessed with the analysis. The "Pro" side saw it as validation of a movement that the "elites" had ignored. The "Con" side saw it as a warning.
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It also sparked a massive debate about the role of the media. Had the press given Trump too much free airtime? By putting him on the cover, were they "normalizing" him? Or were they simply doing their jobs by acknowledging the most significant person of the year?
There’s no easy answer. But 2016 was the year the media realized the old playbooks didn't work anymore. Trump didn't need a press release; he needed a phone and a thumb. He bypassed the gatekeepers, and the Person of the Year cover was, in a way, the gatekeepers finally surrendering to that reality.
How to Research Historical Magazine Covers
If you’re looking into this for a school project or just because you’re a history nerd, don’t just look at the cover image. Go find the actual long-form essay by Scherer and Miller. It’s a masterclass in political reporting from that specific moment in time. You can usually find it in the Time digital archives or through a library database like JSTOR or ProQuest.
Also, check out the "behind the scenes" videos. Time usually releases a short clip showing the photo shoot. Seeing the interaction between the photographer and the subject tells you a lot more than the static image ever could.
Actionable Insights for the History-Minded
- Distinguish between Influence and Endorsement: When discussing any Person of the Year, always clarify that it's about the impact on the news cycle. This prevents 90% of the arguments you'll get into online.
- Study the Runner-ups: The people who didn't make the cover often represent the "quiet" trends that end up being more important a decade later (like the CRISPR scientists in 2016).
- Analyze the Visual Language: Look at the lighting, the clothing, and the background of these covers. Time uses world-class photographers who bake a lot of subtext into the frame. In the 2016 shot, notice the "shadow" on the back of the chair—it’s intentionally gritty.
- Check the Archive: If you're a collector, the 2016 issue is relatively common, but copies in "Mint" condition with the original mailing wrap are starting to hold value among political memorabilia collectors.
The 2016 selection remains a pivot point. It was the year the world realized that the "unthinkable" could happen, and Time's cover perfectly captured the moment the reality sank in. Whether you view that cover with nostalgia or a shudder, you can't deny its place in the historical record. It was the year the "outsider" finally got the keys to the house.
To see how this choice compares to others, look up the 2006 "You" selection or the 2017 "Silence Breakers." It shows how the magazine oscillates between picking individuals and picking movements. Comparing the 2016 Trump cover to the 2020 Biden/Harris cover is also a fascinating study in how the magazine's tone shifts based on the political climate. Each one is a time capsule of a country trying to figure itself out.