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TIME announces nominees for Person of the Year

Posted at 10:45 AM, Dec 07, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-07 10:45:29-05

Each year, TIME Magazine nominates one person as the person of the year. On Monday, they announced eight candidates for that award in 2015.

Jim Kelly, the former editor of TIME, said the classic definition of the person of the year "is the person who most affected the events of the year, for better or for worse."

Below, you will find out who each candidate is and why they were nominated.

Caitlyn Jenner

TIME said her "coming out as a transgender women prompted widespread conversations about gender identity and issues of equality for the LGBT community."

Donald Trump

According to TIME, Trump's "populist rhetoric has made him a frontrunner in the race for Republican presidential candidacy and stirred debate about the party's future."

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

Al-Baghdadi, "as a leader of ISIS has inspired followers to both fight in his self-declared caliphate of Iraq and Syria, and also stage attacks in countries like Tunisia and France."

Black Lives Matter activists

TIME said they are nominated because they "have protested inequality towards African Americans, especially in their treatment by law enforcement."

Hassan Rouhani

Rouhani, "as President of Iran is seeking to bring his country out of pariah status and repair its sanctions-crippled economy by pursing a nuclear deal with the West."

Vladimir Putin

According to TIME, Putin "as president of Russia has defied Western sanctions over his country's military activity in Ukraine to play a critical but precarious role in the war on ISIS."

Angela Merkel

Merkel, "who as German chancellor has been at the center of major news events this year, from economic strife in the Eurozone to Europe's ongoing migrant crisis."

Travis Kalanick

TIME said Kalanick, who is the CEO of Uber, was nominated because he "drove his car-hailing company to a nearly $70 billion valuation, but also drew criticism about the downside of the sharing economy."