24 People of 2012

1. Mass Shooting Victims of Newtown, Aurora, & Oak Creek- All the innocent lives that were taken in these senseless shootings.

2. Barack Obama- The first U.S. African-American president was elected to a second term.

3. Chief Justice Roberts & The Supreme Court- Decided the landmark case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, upholding the individual mandate of  “Obamacare”.

4. The Minority Vote- was the difference in re-electing Barack Obama. Demonstrates a need for the GOP to appeal to this demographic in order to compete in future elections. The American Electorate has changed.

5. Enrique Peña Nieto & #YoSoy132- The PRI’s Peña Nieto was elected president of Mexico. #YoSoy132 was the student organization of protestors protesting against the PRI’s candidate.

6. Chris Christie & The Sandy Victims- A great showing of unity and perseverance after a terrible disaster. Gov. Christie put politics aside to do his job. 

7. Hillary Clinton- Had an eventful year after many failures at the State Department. Leads the pack to become the next nominee to the presidency for the Democrat Party. Negotiated for a cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.

8. Juan Manuel Santos- The first president from Latin America to openly suggest the legalization of certain drugs. 

9. Benjamin Netanyahu- led his country through a tumultuous time.

10. The Dreamers- Are finally getting attention by the Right after an embarrassing loss. 

11. Bashar al-Assad- Leads Syria through a deadly conflict.

12. Goodluck Jonathan- The voice for “anti-corrupt” governments in Africa.

13. Kony 2012- film that brought attention to war criminal Joseph Kony. 

14. Mitt Romney- Lost to Barack Obama in his second run for president of The United States

15. Paul Ryan- Joined Romney as the running mate and intellectual force behind the GOP.

16. Marco Rubio- Became a leading figure in the GOP, especially with the Latin Community.

17. Elinor Ostrom- The political economist, Nobel Laureate, and ASU professor passed away when 

her ideas were being brought into the spotlight. 

18. Sandra Fluke- became the face of the “War on Women”

19. Oscar Pistorius- First double leg amputee to compete in the Summer Olympics. 

20. Viola Davis- Gave an awesome performance in ‘The Help’ and received numerous awards and nominations for her role. 

21. Gotye- This Belgian via Australia wrote one of the year’s top charting songs, “Somebody That I Used To Know”

22. fun.- New York band that released a critically acclaimed album Some Nights, and had two huge hits on the radio: “We Are Young” and “Some Nights”

23. Juan Manuel Marquez- The Mexican boxing legend solidified his status among the greats with a one-punch KO of great Manny Pacquiao in their 4th bout.

24. Novak Djokovic- Emerged as the top tennis player in the world going 24-3 in grand slam tournaments, capturing the Australian Open.