GEORGE W. BUSH

AGE: 61
OCCUPATION: President of the United States of America
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 31+
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 4

PRO: The lamest of ducks, he's nonetheless stuck to his guns, vetoing everything in sight, preventing Congressional alterations in Iraq policy and touting the violence-quelling Surge as early proof that history will vindicate him.

CON: Those petulant appeals to "history" put one in mind of Tom Sawyer attending his own funeral to see who cries. Certainly, no one's shedding any tears in the Mideast, where Bush's half-hearted, last-minute stab at restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has sputtered. A presidency defined by a bang looks destined to end with a whimper.