Reliable Source: Person of the year

Here’s a look at the lucky few to be named Reliable Source person of the year from 2007-2012, as well as the honorable mentions.

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Joe Biden, 2012 person of the year

Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers, including a woman who pulled up her chair in front of the bench Biden was sitting on, during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio this fall.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

Paul Ryan, 2012 person of the year

Paul Ryan was photographed for TIME demonstrating his workout technique at a gym in Janesville, Wis.

Gregg Segal / GREGG SEGAL FOR TIME

The Kennedys, 2012 runner up

A former White House intern shocked the world with her memoir of a JFK affair. Taylor Swift hooked up with RFK Jr.'s kid. Arnold vowed to get Maria back. And now the fourth generation cometh: Joe Kennedy III, just elected to Congress. It's just never gonna end, is it?

Charles Dharapak / AP

Clint Eastwood, 2012 honorable mention

He started the year with a provocative Chrysler ad that had us all wondering where Hollywood’s one-man Mount Rushmore stood on politics. By the fall, he and the empty chair made it clear.

Mark Wilson / GETTY IMAGES

Roseanne Barr, 2012 honorable mention

Was the failed candidate good or bad for the Green Party? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Andrew H. Walker / GETTY IMAGES

Kristi Noem, 2012 honorable mention

Already a career success, she still made a point of finishing her college degree — while serving in Congress.

Harry Hamburg / AP

Eva Longoria, 2012 honorable mention

George Clooney grabbed the spotlight (VIP dinners, an arrest at the Sudan embassy), but the former Desperate Housewife and big-time Obama fundraiser emerged as the real Hollywood powerbroker. Also: Dated Mark Sanchez.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Anthony Weiner, 2011 person of the year

Weiner’s scandal didn’t just represent the volatile mix of sex and power — an old story — but the new impulse-control risks of Twitter.

Alex Wong / GETTY IMAGES

Ryuji Ueno and Sachiko Kuno, 2011 honorable mention

Ryuji Ueno and Sachiko Kuno: The once-obscure biochemists stunned Washington when they bought Evermay, the most expensive house in town -- and then turned around and also bought Halycyon House, the second most expensive.

Stuart Estler / STUART ESTLER

Newt Gingrich (with wife Callista), 2011 honorable mention

From K Street restaurants to McLean diners to the Kennedy Center Honors to the Tysons Corner Tiffany Co., the GOP contender was spotted all over town this year. Running for president of the U.S. or president of the Beltway?

Michael Tran / GETTY IMAGES

Sgt. Scott Moore, 2011 honorable mention

The Afghanistan-based Marine asked Mila Kunis for a date via YouTube, and she accepted -- so the gimmick went viral. Justin Timberlake gamely escorted a Quantico corporal to her Marine Corps Ball, and now the first lady is fielding invitations.

Cpl. Johnny Merkley / AP

Wendell Pierce, 2011 honorable mention

Celebvocate of the Year. So many showbiz folks come to D.C. to talk up their causes. But the star of “Treme” and “The Wire” put his money where his mouth is, with plans to open a chain of grocery stores in the poor, underserved “food deserts” of New Orleans.

Paul Schiraldi / PAUL SCHIRALDI PHOTOGRAPHY

Elizabeth Edwards, 2010 Reliable Source person of the year

”Edwards could have quietly retreated while battling cancer, but instead shared her mistakes, disappointments and lessons learned.”

Susan Biddle / The Washington Post

Peter Orszag, 2010 honorable mention

"The OMB director made nerdy sexy by hooking up with ABC hottie Bianna Golodryga."

Brendan Hoffman / Bloomberg News

Chelsea Clinton, 2010 honorable mention

“She did it her way, with a wedding of the year that was as big as she wanted it to be, and — for all the media frenzy — as private as it could be.”

Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty

Carlos Allen, 2010 honorable mention

“The other White House crasher had no reality-TV offers, so he extended his 15 minutes via a madcap mayoral campaign.“

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

Scott Brown, 2010 honorable mention

“The centerfold, the gorgeous daughters, the upset win — the whole package.”

Robert F. Bukaty / AP

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, 2009 persons of the year

“Heck, the only way Tareq and Michaele Salahi could have missed being our Persons of the Year was if we'd made them Persons of the Decade instead.”

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

Alex Ovechkin

2009 honorable mention

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

Levi Johnston

2009 honorable mention

Matt Sayles / AP

Tara Wheeler

2009 honorable mention

Amy Argetsinger / The Washington Post

The 7-Year-Old, 2008 person of the year

“Years from now — when they're vying to become senator from New York or something — we may feel differently, but in 2008 everyone could agree on Sasha Obama and Piper Palin: Adorable. Couldn't keep our eyes off them.”

Manu Mielniezuk / AP

Anthony Williams, 2008 honorable

“Tony Williams sprinted down K Street in pursuit of a thief who handed over the goods when he recognized the hero: ‘You used to be the mayor!’ "

Rebecca D'Angelo / For The Washington Post

Jenna Bush, 2007 person of the year, 2008 honorable mention

“What did you do in 2007? Jenna Bush finished a stint with UNICEF in Panama, wrote a book, embarked on a nationwide tour, dished out fresh and charming sound bites for countless interviews — and, oh yeah, got engaged. Barbara, the ball's in your court.”

Shealah Craighead / The White House

Gilbert Arenas

“Gilbert Arenas kicked off his NBA superstar breakout year with a million-dollar birthday at Love (Diddy, The Game, a couple of thousand other guests); later, welcomed his second child, filmed a series of surreal TV ads. Now sidelined, he's blogging moodily about his recent breakup. He'll be back. We need him.”

Kevin Wolf / AP

Sheryl Crow, Laurie David and Karl Rove, 2007 honorable mention.

“The Hollywood liberals confronted Dubya's right-hand man on global warming at the White House Correspondents' dinner. They called him rude, he called them abusive; scores of journalists standing nearby couldn't believe their luck.”

Steve Helber / AP

Vice President Joe Biden waves during an election night party, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. President Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Matt Rourke / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

Royal Ascot, protests in Brazil, Lego exhibition, flooding in India, Cheetah-Cub robot and more.

Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Johnathon’s journey

Johnathon Carrington graduated Friday as the valedictorian of his neighborhood school, Dunbar High, and is headed to Georgetown University. But Carrington, 17, is nervous, and so are...

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

A look inside a high-security prison camp outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 16: Reenactors dressed as knights stage a medieval jousting competition at Eltham Palace on June 16, 2013 in Eltham, England. The 'Grand Medieval Joust' event at Eltham Palace, an English Heritage property which was the childhood home of King Henry VIII, aims to give a great insight into life at the palace during the medieval period. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The Grand Medieval Joust

The Grand Medieval Joust at Eltham Palace, an English Heritage property that was the childhood home of King Henry VIII, aims to lend insight through reenactment into life at the palace...

In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil’s other soccer fields

With the Confederations Cup opening this week and the World Cup one year away, all eyes are on Brazil, where soccer is arguably played with more passion and art than anywhere else....

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: John F. Tatum Sr. hugs his grandson John F. Tatum III during his annual Father's Day block party on Sunday, June 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

Father’s Day picnic in Northeast D.C.

A decades-old backyard barbecue in Northeast Washington draws hundreds in honor of dads everywhere. “It’s off-the-chain fun,” says Butch McNair, who has worked one...

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