The New York Mayor, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for his response to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"I was stunned, a little," Giuliani said. "It was really strange. It's hard to think of yourself that way."
The magazine's editors chose Giuliani, 57, "for having more faith in us than we had in ourselves, for being brave when required and rude where appropriate and tender without being trite, for not sleeping and not quitting and not shrinking from the pain all around him".
The mayor shared the praise with New Yorkers.
"I got all the credit resting on the shoulders of these people that have had one of the most heroic three months I think any people have ever had," he said.
The award's criteria was set by Time founder Henry Luce: "The person or persons who most affected the news of our lives, for good or ill, this year."
Managing editor Jim Kelly said he knew on September 11 that the Person of the Year would have some connection to the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Editors spent hours debating whether to name Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terror assault, for the spot, Kelly said.
But bin Laden was "too small a man to get the credit for all that has happened in America in the autumn of 2001", the magazine said. "It is what came after his men had finished their job that has come to define this year."
Giuliani agreed with that judgment.
"I think it's much better that I was selected as a representative of the people of New York City rather than him," the mayor said. "His ultimate objective was obviously not just to kill people, his objective was to destroy the spirit of America. The spirit of America is now stronger than it has ever been before."
The Person of the Year package includes an oral history of September 11 as told by Giuliani and his aides. The issue hits newsstands today, one week before Giuliani's last day in office after eight years. Michael Bloomberg will be sworn in as mayor at midnight on Dec. 31.
AP