Barack Obama is Person of the Year

By April MacIntyre Dec 17, 2008, 17:14 GMT

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama person of the year per Time magazine EPA/JEFF HAYNES

Time has announced President-elect Barack Obama as the Person of the Year.

Reporter David Von Drehle penned the story of Barack's rise in politics, and as a trailblazer in history.  Obama will be the 44th President of the United States and the first African American to hold the office.

Obama revealed to Time his sense of loss of privacy, "that the world was tightening around him, that he would no longer be able to take a walk or shop for groceries. He seemed to be girding himself for the loss of being simply a regular citizen."

Artist Shepard Fairey created the cover in his signature populist image style of the President-elect.

Time expanded the Person of the Year package with an array of images from thousands of individuals from around the world - posted on the image-sharing site Flickr.

The presentation of the remarkable images in Time was the work of deputy picture editor Dietmar Liz-Lepiorz, deputy art director D.W. Pine, reporter Jeninne Lee-St. John and picture-desk assistant Diana Suryakusuma.

Also included in the issue is Craig Robinson's essay about his brother-in-law's skills on the basketball court. Time writes that Robinson's sister Michelle asked him to vet her new boyfriend in a pickup game nearly 20 years ago.