Quotes of the Day
Nancy Reagan and Ron
In his eulogy for his dad, he warned of politicians who wear their faith on their sleeve. She was more subtle, making one-on-one pleas to leaders in politics and medicine. For both, the goal was the same: broader federal support for stem-cell research. After all, they implied, that's what the 40th President, who died after a long bout with Alzheimer's, would have wanted.
Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton
In an election year filled with low blows, 9/11 commission chairman Kean, right, and vice chairman Hamilton stood tall — cajoling testimony from Condoleezza Rice and President Bush, accessing key high-level documents and pushing Congress to pass sweeping intelligence reform. Along the way, their 567-page report about the day the Twin Towers fell became a best seller.
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John Kerry
He had the hair, the height and a war hero's gravitas. He ran with a sunshine boy and had Michael Moore and the French behind him. He lost, the pundits said, in good measure because too many voters didn't believe he would do the best job of thwarting another terrorist attack. "Our fight goes on," Kerry intoned in his concession speech. For now, it's back to his old job as the junior Senator from Massachusetts.
Gavin Newsom
After letting 4,000 same-sex couples marry despite California's own ban, San Francisco's mayor was a star of the left. But by Election Day, when 11 other states barred gay marriage, many blamed Newsom for unwittingly helping the President win a second term.
Eliot Spitzer
Finding corporate venality all over, New York's muckraking Democratic attorney general had another banner year. After forcing Big Pharma to reveal unfavorable clinical studies, he exposed apparent bid rigging and kickback schemes in the insurance industry, sending CEOs scurrying yet again. Shown here near his office in downtown Manhattan, he recently declared his candidacy for Governor of New York in 2006. Wall Street can't wait to see him go.
Viktor Yushchenko
Even more than his rousing words, it was the disfigured face of Ukraine's opposition candidate — caused by dioxin poisoning — that spoke volumes about the high stakes of that country's presidential race. Yushchenko, here in his Kiev office, also survived rigged elections, standing up to authoritarian powers with the help of demonstrations by supporters. With a new vote scheduled for the day after Christmas, he may soon become the face of a more democratic Ukraine.
Iyad Allawi
Appointed in June, Iraq's interim Prime Minister has played the tough guy, reinstating the death penalty, backing U.S.-led assaults on Najaf and Fallujah, imposing martial law. Allawi, with security in tow at Baghdad airport, vowed to work for a "united Iraq where brotherhood and justice prevail." Next step: convince skeptical Iraqi voters he's no U.S. stooge.
Hamid Karzai
Amid ethnic tensions, threats of violence and vocal naysayers, Hamid Karzai became Afghanistan's first democratically elected President. Now he has to deliver on his promises to root out heroin production and gain control over a country still primarily ruled by warlords — and the reconstituted Taliban. Karzai is proud of the new paved road from Kabul to Kandahar, but he has a long road ahead before he can claim victory.
Ariel Sharon
Standing resolute, Israel's Prime Minister survived a corruption scandal, outlasted his archrival Yasser Arafat and plowed ahead with a bold plan to remove Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. Branded a traitor by the settler movement he had fueled as an Agriculture Minister in the 1970s, Sharon, here at his Negev ranch, finally acknowledged that the "sword alone" would never provide Israel with true security. Whether the old hawk will prove himself a peacemaker once the Palestinians have elected a new leader is an open question.
Hu Jintao
Once upon a time, he was just a bureaucrat from the provinces. Now, after the first orderly transfer of power in China's communist history, Hu is the undisputed leader of Asia's economic engine. Since taking over as military chief in September, China's President has resisted calls to revalue the currency, pushed to moderate growth and targeted the gap between rich and poor. While stressing good relations with key trading partners, including the U.S., Hu hasn't got too friendly. Western-style democracy, he has said, is a "blind alley."
Kobe Bryant
He showed amazing athletic prowess by starting some days in court and ending them on court. But amid the Lakers' play-off swoon and his sexual-assault case, it was Bryant's image that took the real beating. After his accuser chose not to testify, Bryant, here with wife Vanessa at the American Music Awards, still had his freedom. And after getting Shaquille O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson shipped out, Bryant has the team to himself. With it comes the spotlight, which, all smiles aside, isn't reflecting too well off this poster boy for athletes' arrogance.
Martha Stewart
The diva of domesticity has always made a "good thing" out of practically anything, and her legal ordeal has been no exception. Although she started 2004 facing the prospect of years in prison and her business and reputation in tatters, she ended it serving a modest five-month sentence for lying to federal investigators -- with a new TV show and a lucrative five-year employment contract awaiting her on release. The fact that her company's stock has more than doubled since her conviction makes the prospective comeback even sweeter.
Rick Warren
Spirituality sold well in 2004, but few did better than Pastor Rick and his faith-based self-help book The Purpose-Driven Life, which hit 20 million copies sold. Though criticized for preaching Christianity lite, Warren led by example, giving away 90% of his royalties, campaigning against hunger and expanding a drug-recovery program for prison inmates.
Steve Jobs
It was a year of challenge and triumph for the man behind the iPod, who learned he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer and had surgery to remove a tumor. Meanwhile, the two companies he heads, Pixar and Apple, saw their stocks soar, thanks to The Incredibles and iPod's little sis, the Mini. Appearing in public after his cancer ordeal, Jobs smiled and said, "I'm back." It was music to our earbuds.
Lance Armstrong
Appearing relaxed as he took a break from training in Megève, France, the 32-year-old Texan pedaled on to a record sixth straight Tour de France title. Dogged by rumors of doping — despite his denials and negative drug tests — he explained the historic feat by saying, "Everything went perfectly." His yellow jersey shared honors with his yellow Live Strong wristbands, which help raise cancer awareness — and millions for research.
Desperate Housewives
As red-state America was supposedly pining for traditional values, the breakout hit on TV was a campy nighttime soap that showcased a quintet of sex-crazed women (from left: Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman and Nicollette Sheridan). Pill popping, adultery, drunken driving, suicide — anything goes on manicured Wisteria Lane. Suburban dysfunction has rarely been this much fun — or popular.
Smarty Jones
Yes, he's a horse. But don't hold that against him. His run at the Triple Crown was still the year's most captivating race (aside from that one for the White House). Owned by a sickly car dealer and his wife, Smarty was a made-for-TV-movie colt, ridden by a reformed alcoholic, flying to the finish at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. After he lost the Belmont, even the winning jockey, riding 36-to-1- shot Birdstone, apologized for ending the Smarty party. If only all also-rans were this charismatic.
- Text by Daniel Eisenberg; Daren Fonda