Who should be the Person or People of the Year for 2018? | Opinion
The 2017 honor went to retiring Sen. Bob Corker. Past honorees have included Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.
David Plazas
- Fill out our form to nominate your choice for Person or People of the Year.
The last time I saw Sen. Bob Corker was on Halloween.
The Tennessee Republican was the keynote speaker at a luncheon for the Tennessee World Affairs Council in downtown Nashville.
Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke about the state of the world, U.S. foreign policy, and how President Donald Trump's style and rhetoric affect international relations.
The senator, who will retire at the end of his term in January, had campaigned for Trump in 2016, but he has become an occasional critic and foil especially when the president has shown too much deference to tyrants (i.e., Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman).
While he has voted for many of the president's priorities, including confirming Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Corker voted against the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act, criticized the White House's tariffs policy and, on Wednesday, he led the effort to remove U.S. troops not authorized by Congress from the civil war in Yemen.
His leadership and complicated relationship with Trump were among the reasons The Tennessean Editorial Board named him its 2017 Person of the Year.
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Help us name the 2018 honoree
Editorial board members are now considering whom to name as 2018's Person or People of the Year.
The honoree will have made an impact, large or small, on Middle Tennessee and beyond over the last year.
Some past honorees have been saints, while others have been very human, but their efforts, advocacy or actions were exceptional.
As we have in the past, we are asking readers to send your nominations. We typically name someone new each year, although superstar Dolly Parton received the honor in 2006 and 2016. So here is a refresher of the last 12 years of honorees for your review and consideration:
- 2006: Country music icon Dolly Parton
- 2007: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
- 2008: Belmont University President Bob Fisher
- 2009: Medical researchers of Meharry Medical College including James Hildreth, then a researcher and now president
- 2010: Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean
- 2011: Musicians Vince Gill and Amy Grant
- 2012: Researchers Marion Kainer and April Pettit
- 2013: Musician Taylor Swift
- 2014: Michael Burcham, former CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center
- 2015: The late attorney and politician John Jay Hooker
- 2016: The heroes and survivors of Sevier County, including Dolly Parton
- 2017: U.S. Sen. Bob Corker
Email your pick, why you selected him, her or them, and include your name and phone number to [email protected] by noon Friday, Dec. 14. Mobile and desktop readers can choose to fill out our form below instead.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee and Tennessean editorial board member. Call him at 615-259-8063, email him at [email protected] or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
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Outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will talk about his legacy on higher education and the work left to be done at a Q&A organized by The Tennessean and the USA TODAY NETWORK in Tennessee 6-7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, at the Nashville Public Libarary. Seating is limited. Register for tickets at http://haslameducation.tennessean.com.