When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Were Jointly Named Time Magazine’s 2020 'Person of the Year'
In 2020, a year marked by unprecedented hurdles, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris emerged as beacons of hope, resilience, and change. Together, they were jointly named Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year," a demonstration of their historic journey and the impact they promised for America. The announcement of this esteemed honor came as joyous news for Indian-Americans, as Kamala Harris, of Indian and Jamaican heritage, found herself atop Time's illustrious list. Along with Biden, they stood as the strongest duo.
Time magazine’s decision to jointly recognize Biden and Harris was a reflection of the prominence of their partnership. In a profile that accompanied the announcement, Time noted that they offered "restoration and renewal in a single ticket." Time magazine also said, "And America bought what they were selling: after the highest (voter) turnout in a century, they racked up 81 million votes and counting, the most in presidential history, topping Trump by some 7 million votes and flipping five battleground states."
Biden, an experienced political leader who served two terms as vice president under Barack Obama, took on the remarkable responsibility of leading a nation struggling with an array of crises. Time acknowledged that Biden inherited a confluence of challenges, including a worsening pandemic that had claimed countless lives, rampant unemployment, an economic downturn, a climate crisis, the ongoing struggle against systemic racism, and a barrage of misinformation blurring the lines between fact and fiction.
According to Mint, Vice President Harris shattered several gender and racial barriers, glistening a path for future leaders. Time asserted, “The Person of the Year is usually an individual, but multiple people have been named in the past. The title is one, according to the magazine, signifying "who affected the news or our lives the most, for better, or worse." Time magazine initiated this tradition in 1927, and past recipients include a diverse array of individuals who have shaped history.
As per Zee Business, Biden, at the age of 78, became the oldest person ever to assume the presidency of the United States. On the other hand, Harris marked history as the first woman, the first Black person, and the first person of Asian descent to take the oath as vice president. On Harris; Biden commented, "She is straight as an arrow. She is really, really bright. She is tough. But yet she has a heart that understands what it’s like to be on the other side of prejudice. She also was an immigrant’s daughter who was raised, in a strange way, like I was. We were taught that we could be anything. Don’t give up, just move, and keep pushing. And I just found her to be someone who if something happened to me, I knew could take over. That’s Kamala."
