My Person of the Year

John Kerry, presidential contender in 2004, is the junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts

I nominate the veterans who ran for Congress for their guts, grit, brains and heart. In Washington, veterans are too often seen as backdrops for speeches but seldom listened to about war and peace and body armor. Now the troops are speaking, and they will change the character of Congress.

VETERANS WHO RAN FOR CONGRESS

Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson are the creators of MySpace.com

This year TIME should look at Warren Buffett. Rather than duplicating what Bill and Melinda Gates have done, he supported them by donating billions to their foundation. Buffett has been a business and philanthropy icon for years, but this takes him to a whole new level.

WARREN BUFFETT

Tennis great Billie Jean King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles

Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, should be honored by TIME for his pioneering work in microcredit financing to help the fight against poverty around the world. Yunus has developed one of the most viable solutions to ease extreme poverty, and hopefully end it as well.

MUHAMMAD YUNUS

Father Richard John Neuhaus is a Catholic priest and founder of the journal First Things

I nominate Pope Benedict XVI. Once viewed as a contentious academic, he has assumed a world-historical role of leadership. In his address at Regensburg and his journey to Turkey, he has clarified the relationship of the West to Islam, proposing a hopeful alternative to “the clash of civilizations.”

POPE BENEDICT XVI