2012 Person of the Year: Barack Obama, the President

Time magazine has named President Barack Obama as its 2012 Person of the Year, joining a select band of two-time winners. Time magazine has named President Barack Obama as its 2012 Person of the Year.

Portrait of a Presidency

President Barack Obama attends a dress rehearsal of the Moscow Ballet's “Great Russian Nutcracker,” in which his daughter, Sasha, portrays a mouse, at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, Dec. 16, 2012. During breaks in the rehearsal, the President works on the remarks he is scheduled to give later that day at a vigil for the shooting victims in Newtown, Conn.

President Barack Obama reviews his election speech with Jon Favreau, Director of Speechwriting, and David Axelrod in the Presidential Suite at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 6, 2012.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama embrace after watching CNN project the outcome of the election, at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 6, 2012.

President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office, Oct. 26, 2012.

President Obama greets daughters Sasha and Malia at the Time Warner Cable Arena before delivering remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 6, 2012.

President Obama hugs Stephanie Davies while visiting shooting victim Allie Young at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colo., July 22, 2012. Davies helped keep Young alive after her friend was wounded at the movie theater in Aurora. The President traveled to Colorado to visit with patients and family members affected by the shootings.

President Obama shares a piece of strawberry pie with a young patron at Kozy Corners, a local diner in Oak Harbor, Ohio, July 5, 2012.

"This was one of the most poignant moments of the President's first term. He was visiting wounded warriors in the intensive care unit ICU at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, May 1, 2012. He had just presented a Purple Heart to Sgt. Chase Haag, who had been injured by an IED just hours before. Sgt. Haag was covered with a blanket and it was difficult to see how badly he was injured. He was also seemingly unconscious so the President whispered in his ear so not to wake him. Just then, there was a rustling under the blanket and Sgt. Haag, eyes still closed, reached his hand out to shake hands with the President."

President Obama greets the daughter of national security staffer during a departure photo in the Oval Office, Feb. 1, 2012.

President Barack Obama greets then Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., as he arrives to deliver the State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 24, 2012.

President Obama laughs as The First Lady pretends to be a majorette before addressing the United Nations General Assembly Reception at the New York Public Library, in N.Y., N.Y., Sept. 21, 2011. A marching band performed at the reception before the President and Mrs. Obama addressed the crowd.

President Obama joins in a water gun fight with daughter Sasha during her 10th birthday celebration at Camp David, Md., June 11, 2011.

"The two coaches for Sasha Obama's basketball team couldn't make it to one of her games, so the President and his then personal aide, Reggie Love, filled in as coaches for this game on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011. Here they along with Sasha's teammates react during the game."

"Visiting the Great Buddha of Kamakura, in Japan, the President had a green tea ice cream bar with his hosts, Nov. 14, 2010. He had visited this Buddha as a young child and said he remembered sitting in the exact same place having an ice cream bar."

"We were walking through a locker room at the University of Texas on August 9, 2010, when White House Trip Director Marvin Nicholson stopped to weigh himself on a scale. Unbeknownst to him, the President was stepping on the back of the scale, as Marvin continued to slide the scale lever. Everyone but Marvin was in on the joke."

President Obama shares a moment with his daughter Sasha during a barbecue in celebration of his 49th birthday on the South Lawn of the White House, Aug. 8, 2010.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talk over lunch during an unannounced trip to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., June 24, 2010.

President Obama tries to block a layup shot by his former personal aide, Reggie Love, at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2010.

President Obama talks with his daughter Malia on the swing set outside the Oval Office, May 4, 2010.

President Barack Obama and his daughters, Sasha and Malia, play in the snowstorm at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.

“A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carlton’s son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the President’s head to see if it felt the same as his.”

The President and First Lady, along with friends and family, watch a 3-D commercial during the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama walks to the podium for his Inauguration as the 44th President at the U.S. Capitol 
on Jan. 20, 2009