2009 Time's 100 Most Influential People.

The opening shot of Time's 2009 100 most influential people was veteran Democrat Edward Kennedy who was described as the most bipartisan politician in congress, and whose story was told by California Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom the governor called 'Uncle.' Schwarzenegger writes;

"How do I describe Uncle Teddy? Everyone knows him as the Lion of the Senate, a liberal icon, a warrior for the less fortunate, a fierce advocate for health-care reform, a champion of social justice here and abroad and now even a Knight of the British Empire. But I know him as the rock of his family: a loving husband, father, brother and uncle. He's a man of great faith and character."

Time's 100 has an array of lists: leaders and revolutionaries; builders and titans; artists and entertainers; heroes and icons; and scientists and thinkers. The list includes Hilary Clinton, Norah al Faiz, Paul Kagame, Angela Markel, David McKeirnan, Asfaq Kayani, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, The Twitter guys, Ted Turner, Nouriel Rouboum, Oprah Winfrey, the drug addled Rush Limbaugh, Joaquim Guzman and Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.) among others.

Read story as told by Schwarzenegger

Spike Jonze on M.I.A.


Michael Elliot on Angela Merkel

T Boone Pickens on Ted Turner

Madeleine K. Albright on Hillary Clinton

Aston Kutcher on The Twitter Guys

J.K. Rowling on Gordon Brown

Tim Padget on Joaquim Guzman


Rick Warren on Paul Kagame

Gordon Brown on Barrack Obama

Photos cortesy of Time Magazine