The 2007 honor went to the Russian leader because of Putin's "extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability," said Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor.
Others who were in the running included Nobel Prize-winner Al Gore and author J.K. Rowling.
This year's honor was a return to the magazine's tradition of picking an individual rather than last year's choice of anyone creating or using content on the World Wide Web.
Previous winners have also included Bono, President George W. Bush and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.
[Associated
Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|