Clinton and Starr Again Cross Paths

NEW YORK — In the midst of their struggle in Washington, President Clinton and independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr are sharing the cover of Time as the magazine’s Men of the Year.

Other candidates for what is usually the Man of the Year were Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, retiring Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), baseball slugger Mark McGwire and the peacemakers in Ireland. Hillary Rodham Clinton also was a leading contender for the magazine’s annual nod to the year’s top newsmaker, said Walter Isaacson, Time’s managing editor.

“But at decision time it came down to who, in the end, had the most impact on the way the news actually unfolded throughout the year,” Isaacson wrote.

Although the decision is often made months in advance, this year the choice was not finalized until Thursday, Time spokeswoman Debra Richman said.

Isaacson defined the Man of the Year as “the person or persons who most affected the news of our lives, for good or for ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse.”

Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and the Ayatollah Khomeini are among those named in the past.

Time’s announcement came as Clinton became the second president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives and ordered to stand trial in the Senate.

Isaacson wrote of Clinton and Starr that their “shared obstinacy but radically different personalities and values caused them to become entwined in a sullied embrace and paired for history. The year drew to a close the way it had opened in January, with events being driven by what these two men had wrought.”