OK, I know I’m way ahead of the game. To the extent it means anything anymore, Time magazine doesn’t get around to announcing its “Person of the Year” (remember when it was “Man of the Year?”) until December. 

But I think we should make an exception this year and hold the coronation 11 months ahead of time – because there’s only one clear winner.

Of course, as always, there are others who merit serious consideration and would otherwise be an excellent choice. Among whom I would name Joe Biden, Mark Milley and Liz Cheney.

He may not be our most exciting president, but in one short year Biden has already proven one of our most effective. In his first year, he vastly accelerated our response to COVID-19, expanding the number of Americans vaccinated from 20 million to over 200 million; rebuilt the economy; created 6.4 million new jobs; and, with the stimulus and infrastructure bills, sparked more public investment than FDR and LBJ did in their first years combined. Biden deserves to be near the top of the list.

So does Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Egged on by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Donald Trump decided that declaring martial law and calling out the military was the only way to hold onto power. 

He might have tried it, but, as detailed by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in “Peril” (a must read!), Milley stood in Trump’s way – telling Pentagon leaders to ignore any orders that came from the Trump White House – about seizing voting machines, starting another war, or using nuclear weapons – unless he, Milley, personally approved. He’s on the runner-up list.

And so is Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), a true profile in courage. She reminds us all that it’s love of country, not slavish loyalty to any politician or political party, that counts. By standing up for the Constitution and against Donald Trump, she’s won the gratitude and admiration of an entire nation.

But, in the end, above all others, the man who saved the day and earned the honor of Time’s Person of the Year is former Vice President Mike Pence. 

True, he was a shameless Trump lackey for four years, but when it counted he suddenly discovered his backbone and refused to decertify the Electoral Count of key swing states on January 6 – despite intense pressure from Donald Trump to do so.

Again, for the first time, Woodward and Costa reveal the enormous pressure Trump put on Pence, starting with a six-point plan of action for Pence to follow, prepared by attorney John Eastman. 

In the Oval Office on the evening of January 5, when Pence had still not agreed to overturn the Electoral Count, Trump, according to the authors, bellowed: “No, no, no! … I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this.” 

The next morning, Trump called Pence to warn: “If you don’t do it, I picked the wrong man four years ago.”

It wasn’t till later on the morning of January 6 that Pence publicly revealed his decision to defy Trump. 

“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution,” he wrote in a letter to members of Congress, “constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.” 

And for that decision, an armed mob of Trump supporters drove the vice president from the Capitol amid chants of “Hang Mike Pence!”

The violent assault on the Capitol was bad enough. Once order was restored, Congress returned to the Capitol and did its job, confirming the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

But imagine the chaos that would have ensued had Pence done what Trump had demanded and single-handedly nullified the 2020 election.

Pence’s courage is all the more praiseworthy in light of new information about Trump’s active involvement in events leading up to January 6: a draft executive order declaring martial law; demands made to the Pentagon, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security to seize voting machines; inviting armed supporters to Washington to prevent Congress from doing its job. 

Clearly, Trump not only inspired the insurrection of January 6, he organized it. Which is an act of pure sedition.

Based on the facts as we now know them, it’s time to put both of these men where they belong. 

Mike Pence belongs on the cover of Time.