EACH YEAR, WE BEGIN THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING the Person of the Year—this is the 91st time we have done so—with a late-September meeting of the staff. The nominations are varied and the debates vigorous, never more so than in this moment of extreme disruption. Nearly one year in, President Trump has dramatically changed the way the Executive Branch functions and altered U.S. relationships with allies and adversaries. Chinese President Xi Jinping, having consolidated internal power to a degree not seen in decades, made clear that his country is prepared to assume the mantle of world leadership. Kim Jong Un, the mysterious totalitarian leader of North Korea, escalated global tensions by testing increasingly powerful missiles, the latest capable of reaching Washington.
Then, on Oct. 31, I walked into a windowless…
