Who Should Be the Person of the Century?

By Jacques Chirac; Bob Dole

TIME's coverage of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century will culminate in December, when we will name the Person of the Century. To help the editors make the choice, we've asked a select group of people to tell us whom they would pick. The latest intriguing nominations:

CHARLES DE GAULLE If we are to single out a personality among all those who have shaped contemporary history, I would cite General Charles de Gaulle. He was the incarnation of honor and courage. I had the privilege of knowing him and of working at his side. I learned from him that intimate, almost mystical, alliance between a nation and its leader. The relationship between De Gaulle and France was a personal and unique bond. During World War II, he was the symbol of the Resistance and later the spirit of reform. He restored political and economic stability. Never give up--have the courage to say no--embrace a collective ambition that leaves behind special interests: that is the message of Gaullism. It is one for all times and all nations. De Gaulle not only affirmed a certain idea of France. He also had a certain idea of mankind. And that idea allowed him to accomplish the impossible. --Jacques Chirac, President of France

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER The next time someone asks whether character counts in a leader, remind them of D-day, June 6, 1944. In the months leading up to it, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower assembled an armada of 4,400 ships and landing craft, 11,000 airplanes and 155,000 troops with which to liberate Europe from the Nazis. Then, having done his best, Eisenhower imagined the worst. Along with a ringing message to his troops, he drafted a different one in case the invasion failed. In it he said, "If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." Ike's integrity, on and off the battlefield, gave him unparalleled credibility in the postwar world, whether launching Atoms for Peace; ending the war in Korea; sending federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., to integrate the school; or warning against the evils of what he named "the military-industrial complex." It has taken us nearly a half-century to see the true dimension of Eisenhower's achievements. --Bob Dole, former U.S. Senator