After much consideration, TIME Magazine announced that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been names its 2009 Person of the Year. According to TIME managing editor Richard Stengel, Bernanke edged out General Stanley McChyrstal, who heads up the U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
While appearing on the TODAY show Wednesday morning, Stengel said Bernanke received the nod because of his key role in “the most powerful, least understood government force shaping our lives.”
TIME’s choice as Bernanke for man of the year is sure to spark much debate as the chairman is largely unpopular with the general public after his role in helping bail out big Wall Street banks during the financial crisis in late 2008. The same banks that are thought to have caused the crisis to begin with.
With his first four year term coming to a close, Bernanke was recently nominated by Obama for a second. However, Bernanke’s criticism is not only coming from the public as he had to defend the nomination at a Senate hearing. A Senate Committee is set to vote on his nomination Thursday, which happens to be the day before TIME’s release of the Person of the Year issue.
According to a poll run by the TODAY show, public choice differed dramatically from that of TIME. Pollsters gave Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs the nod for 2009 man of the year, garnering 44 percent of the vote. President Obama followed with a 20 percent share, while Bernanke only received the nod from 3.2 percent of participants.
Other persons TIME considered for the distinction were U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt.
