Time Names Bernanke "Person of the Year"

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2009.

House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was a finalist for the award.

"The recession was the story of the year. Without Ben Bernanke," Time managing editor Richard Stengel said in a statement, "it would have been a lot worse."

CBS News Special Report: Year in Review

"We've rarely had such a perfect revision of the cliche that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Bernanke didn't just learn from history; he wrote it himself and was damned if he was going to repeat it."

Last year's winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama. The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.