The 75 Best People in the World
There are many more do-gooders, but these particular men and women — because of their talent, achievements, virtue, and two other essential qualifications (having to do with puppies and drinking) — make us happy
A Few Words on Our Methodology: The world is full of good people. Noble, selfless, generous people who help the helpless, who continue to push when the world says retreat, who embody the better angels of our nature. This is not a list of those people. This is a list of men and women who, by virtue of skill or character, make us happy — happy that they're among us, happy that they do what they do, happy that they're successful. Each of them possesses exceptional talent, of course, but each also satisfies two special requirements: Would we like to have a drink with this person? And would we trust this person with our puppy?
Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford — A happy, smart, and ballsy executive (for one thing) in a depressing, dumb, and fearful business. He gives Americans a car company they can be proud of.
Andrew Sullivan — A whip-smart voice of reason in the racket that is the blogosphere.
Anthony Atala, organ-regeneration pioneer — For giving cutting-edge scientists a good name.
Beyoncé — Nice girl, good pipes.
Bill Clinton — If you were trapped in a North Korean prison and told to walk through a door, who else would you want to see there?
Bill Gates — Really, he's much more fun than you think.
Bill Murray — The man's irreplaceable, but you might have to stay on him about the puppy.
Britney Spears — Who knew she was such a fighter? The woman is pure heart. Also much more fun than you think.
Chloë Sevigny — Same as Buchanan.
Chris Rock — Those jokes that piss you off and make you laugh yourself silly? They're not going to tell themselves.
Clive Owen — A good man trapped in the body of a movie star.
Dana Priest, The Washington Post — Pulitzer-prize winner (twice), war correspondent, hottest fiftyish reporter in D.C.
David Byrne — In an age of phony eccentrics, the real deal.
David Lynch — For showing genial independent filmmakers everywhere that they, too, can sell delicious organic coffee on their Web sites.
David Petraeus — An intellectual in a four-star general's uniform.
David Sedaris — For showing genial, aimless ****ups everywhere that they, too, can become stars.
Dr. Mehmet Oz — Educator of men, world-class surgeon, tireless advocate of sex.
Dustin Pedroia, second baseman, Red Sox — Because baseball needs him (and his name).
Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania — Because he proves that not every macher need be a pig or a prick.
Eric Taylor, ex-coach of the Dillon Panthers — No quit. No fat.
Frances McDormand — The human smile at the heart of the best Coen brothers movies.
Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health — For having the intelligence to know what science can tell us — and the wisdom to know what it can't.
Gail Collins, columnist — A whip-smart voice of reason in the racket that is The New York Times.
Gary Sinise — About as solid and emblematic an American actor and man as we've got.
George Clooney — Because he'd probably like you, too.
George Foreman — A man who chooses to be happy all the time. He's a better man than us.
George Saunders — It's a lie that short fiction is never topical or funny.
Gregory Crewdson, photographer — For saying more in a picture than others say in a movie.
Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the L.A. Philharmonic — Why classical music has a future.
Heidi Klum — Model host, model mom, model celebrity, model German.
Hillary Clinton — How many famous people grow better the more you know them?
Ina Garten, Food Network — You just want to curl up in her bosom and have her feed you butter cookies.
Jay-Z — Not even Gatsby could land a girl like Beyoncé.
Janet Napolitano — She's wrestling with the biggest mess in government: the Department of Homeland Security. And she has the best smile in the Cabinet.
John Miller, FBI — Reporter turned cop turned fed may be our most unique public figure.
Jon Huntsman — The former Republican governor of Utah and our new ambassador to China. A politician who redeems the word.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus — Who knew she was the most talented of the four?
Justin Timberlake — He sings, he dances, he acts, he's funny. Usually the smartest guy in a room full of smart guys. What more can you ask?
Kelly Clarkson — The only American Idol who lives up to the title.
Kevin Garnett — There's no fiercer competitor in any sport.
Lara Logan, CBS News — If only all war correspondents were as enterprising and brave as this one.
LeBron James — How many superstar athletes seem to enjoy it?
Lester Holt, NBC News — The one anchor who's both contemporary and weighty.
Lisa Simpson — Eight years old and already a model citizen. We think this is how Hillary got her start.
Lyle Lovett — The funniest, gentlest badass alive, with a voice like raw heartache.
Matt Damon — For all the reasons detailed in our October issue's cover story. But also because — and we're not afraid to say it — he's radiant.
Meryl Streep — How many serious actresses can play crazy-happy-silly?
Michael Phelps — How many great athletes are also goofballs?
Pat Buchanan — Weird and possibly dangerous, but he's seen a thing or two. Plus, he'd be kind to the dog.
Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney — From Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman to George Ryan to Scooter and Conrad Black and Blago, Fitzgerald's cleaning up the joint.
Paul Krugman — For proving that a Ph.D. in economics — to say nothing of a Nobel prize — might actually be sort of useful.
Penélope Cruz — But only in Spanish.
Peter Orszag, White House budget director — And he could use a beer and a puppy right about now.
Philip Roth — A prick? Perhaps. But how many great artists are still great — leaner, harder, madder, different — at sixty? Now, how many are at seventy-six?
Prince Charles — He's a better man than us.
Queen Elizabeth — The only broad in this two-bit world with any class.
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC host — A whip-smart voice of reason in the racket that is cable news.
Rahm Emanuel — At long last, a political figure who doesn't want to be your friend.
Robert Downey Jr. — Sure we can trust him with the puppy. (Okay, trust but verify.)
Robert Duvall — You put him in a movie and it's better.
Robert Gates, secretary of defense — A pragmatist, a patriot.
Rory Stewart, big thinker — At thirty-six, one of the early prizes of our grim era.
Rupert Murdoch — The evil emperor of global media, but he also gets drunk and loses his wedding band. And he loves newspapers. How bad can he be?
Sacha Baron Cohen — Because he has platinum ones.
Sarah Silverman — An anarchist trapped in the body of a nice Jewish girl.
Scarlett Johansson — She gives us hope.
Shepard Smith, Fox News anchor — An anchor you want to watch, with a touch of the madness of Rather.
Simon Cowell — He's always honest and he's always right, and the world could use more of that.
Stephen Colbert — The arched eyebrow of a grateful nation.
Ted Allen — For bringing reality grace and humanity to reality TV.
Tim Gunn, Project Runway — Because we could all use a little more encouragement.
Timothy Geithner, secretary of the Treasury — He has seen the horror. And if we can trust him with the economy, can't we trust him with a puppy?
Tom Cruise — The guy can really act, he works his ass off, and he deserves a little respect.
Venus Williams — The best female athlete in a generation is also the sweetest.
Warren Buffett — Yesterday, today, tomorrow.
Exceptional People with Whom We'd Want to Have a Drink but Wouldn't Trust with a Puppy:
Kate Moss
The Pope
Julian Schanbel
Quentin Tarantino
Bono
Jeff Koons
Mick 'n' Keith
Vaclav Havel
Steve Jobs
Michael Vick
Exceptional People with Whom We'd Trust with a Puppy but Wouldn't Want to Have a Drink:
John Roberts
Nelson Mandela
Tiger Woods
The Dalai Lama
Al Gore
Natalie Portman
Elie Wiesel
Billy Graham
George H.W. Bush
Eve Ensler
Paul McCartney
RECEIPTS
The 75 Greatest Women of All Time
From politicians to pop stars — A definitive list of the women who have shaped the world. Well, inasmuch as definitive can be completely arbitrary.
Anaïs Nin — Babysitter to big boys of American literature. Her diaries outshine, and out-scandalize, them all.
Angelina Jolie — Before giving in to all this Brad Pitt, adoption nonsense.
Anne Bancroft in The Graduate — The everlasting Mrs. America, which is, frankly, a lot sexier.
Aretha Franklin — Especially for the Columbia Records years. We'd take "One Step Ahead" over all her Top Tens combined.
Bea Arthur — Grandmas are the best. Earthy, profane, hilarious grandmas especially. We miss you, Bea.
Beverly D'Angelo — (Coal Miner's Daughter through National Lampoon's Vacation.) Chevy Chase didn't deserve her.
Billie Holiday — For "Don't Explain," which makes us men feel like real shitheels, and for "Lover Man," which makes life better again. And for all the rest.
The Bond Girl — Twenty to forty years old. Sexually experienced. Loves bikinis. Good with firearms.
Britney Spears — A face just like her voice: sweet, enchanting, and emotional. Even after her jailbait phase and when she sang with that snake on her neck. Those Rolling Stone covers would have been enough.
Cher — Remember when Nic Cage wasn't a joke? That's the power of Cher.
Cheryl Tiegs — Christie who?
Chrissie Hynde — We can even forgive her obnoxious new animal activism.
Cybill Shepherd — As Jacy Farrow, in The Last Picture Show. Just a great memory to return to once in a while.
The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (1972-1973) — They set the standard.
Dolly Parton — You know, after forty-one Top Ten albums, twenty-five number-one singles, and an acting career, it's something to realize that her best contribution is one you haven't heard about
: the Dollywood Foundation, which promotes literacy in dirt-poor, opportunity-free Appalachian towns. The kind of town she grew up in.
Dorothea Lange — Showed us the truth.
Eleanor Roosevelt — Co-president of the United States, 1933-1945.
Esther — Hebrew queen and heroine. Prevented a genocide, then turned around and slaughtered the would-be killers. Set an example.
Fiona Apple — The only singer with that Lilith Fair vibe that it's okay for men to listen to.
Flannery O'Connor — For scaring the schmaltz out of southern literature. And for being scary good.
Gloria Steinem — Gained fame for going undercover as a Playboy Bunny. Earned the lasting respect of history for bringing women's equality into the mainstream.
Golda Meir — Respect.
Goldie Hawn — Laugh-In! Cactus Flower! Private Benjamin! We're still laughing.
Gong Li — First actual Chinese movie star we were exposed to.
Helen Mirren — Extraordinary actor. Great competitor.
Hillary Clinton — Indispensable.
Hope Sandoval — Good sense of humor.
Indira Gandhi — You don't lead a country from crushing poverty to emerging power without making a few enemies. Richard Nixon considered her "an old witch," which can only fall in her favor.
Ingrid Bergman — Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walked into Rick's place in Casablanca. Lucky us.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee — As dominant as the UConn women's basketball team. With legs much better suited to shorts.
Jane Fonda in Barbarella — Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga was Lady Gaga.
Janet Jackson — But only for a fleeting moment.
Janis Joplin — Passion trumps beauty.
Jennifer Aniston — After giving in to all this Brad Pitt nonsense.
Jessica Rabbit — Betty Boop didn't even come close.
Joan Didion — For fifty years of not letting America get away with its own self-delusions. If we have a national conscience, she is it.
Joan Jett — "I Love Rock 'n Roll" changed the way we thought about music — especially how we thought about women making rock music.
Joan of Arc — Led an army, saved a people, died stoically, sainted rightfully.
Joan Rivers — Before all this red-carpet garbage, a damn fine comedian.
Joyce Brothers — In a house without cable and in a time before the Internet, her Good Housekeeping column was the closest thing to sexual enlightenment a kid could find and read before his mom got home from the grocery store.
Judy Blume — If only for the comedy-reference fodder of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Oh, and Superfudge.
Julia Child — It's true: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If the trail happens to pass through the kitchen of an urbane, ebullient, ********-intolerant master of French cuisine — who also happened to serve in the OSS during the war — en route, well, now we're speaking the language of love.
Karen Allen — Animal House! Raiders of the Lost Ark! Our nine- and twenty-two-year-old selves just fell in love all over again.
Katarina Witt — It's hard to say which stuck with us more: Calgary, 1988, or Playboy, 1998.
Katharine Hepburn — One half of Hepburn and Tracy, and that alone would be enough. But there's also Hepburn and Bogart, Hepburn and Grant, Hepburn and Poitier — in all, sixty-two years of the most intelligent acting ever to grace the big screen.
Katharine Ross in The Graduate — The everlasting Miss America.
Katie Couric — Such a force. Until people started feeling sorry for her.
Kelly Clarkson — The best voice in the history of pop music.
Kim Basinger — So beautiful. Almost enough to make up for how crazy she is.
Liz Phair — Indie-rock chicks couldn't have a better mentor.
Madeleine Albright — First female secretary of state. Looked great in blue.
Madonna — 1985 Madonna. Not 2012 Madonna.
Marie Curie — Would've been on this list even if she had won only one Nobel prize.
Mariel Hemingway — Limited exposure: the price you pay for starring in a Woody Allen film. Even a masterpiece like Manhattan.
Marilyn Monroe — Not "Marilyn Monroe." The other one, the scared, honest one — the one in The Misfits.
Maud Gonne — Inspired this: Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths / Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
—William Butler Yeats, 1899
Meryl Streep — Who always seems to know something we don't, and to find it amusing. We don't know if this is what's called "flirting with the audience," but it works.
Michelle Obama — The perfect running mate.
Nina Simone — "I Put a Spell on You," "Ne Me Quitte Pas," "Feeling Good," "Sinnerman."
Phylicia Rashad — The perfect mother: She loved her kids, solved problems, had perfect mom hair, and occasionally said things that children shouldn't hear. Wonderful.
Princess Diana — Regardless of who she married, she still deserved to be called a princess.
Queen Elizabeth I — Led a people, saved a nation, governed wisely, respected globally.
Raquel Welch — The least American American actress.
Rhea Perlman — Even though her character on Cheers was a **** who wasn't all that good-looking. Because of it, actually.
Sacajawea — Showed Lewis and Clark the way. While carrying a baby on her back. For a thousand miles.
Sappho — She and Homer founded Western literature. But Homer never wrote like this: By the cool water the breeze murmurs, rustling / Through apple branches, while from quivering leaves / Streams down deep slumber.
Serena Williams — No woman will ever be as dominant.
Sharon Stone — Basic Instinct changed what people could do in movies. Sliver changed what people expected.
Shirley Jackson — You know "The Lottery," the short story every writer studies at some point in his life? It only took her an afternoon to write Steinem.
The Supremes — "Where Did Our Love Go," "Come See About Me," "Stop! in the Name of Love," "Baby Love," "You Can't Hurry Love."
Susan Sarandon — Great looking at every age. Great actress at every age, too.
Tina Turner — She was forty-five when she walked down the sidewalk in a miniskirt, high heels, and a wig in the "What's Love Got to Do with It" video. It's like she was thirty then, and it's like she's thirty now.
Toni Morrison — For, among a shelf of masterworks, Song of Solomon.
Winona Ryder — We prefer to remember early-'90s Winona. Edward Scissorhands, Mermaids, Dracula, Reality Bites Winona. Charming Winona.
Yoko Ono — We loved her and didn't even know it.
RECEIPTS
Living legends.
I could not be bothered to highlight your faves, however, the lists are in alphabetical order, so you will not have trouble finding them if they're on them.
The Queen.
