The naming of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Yuri Andropov as Men of the Year marks the third occasion on which the editors of TIME have made a double selection. In 1937 TIME named China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Soong Mei-ling as Man and Wife of the Year for staunchly resisting the invading Japanese. Thirty-five years later, in 1972, President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger were chosen for their efforts to realign U.S. diplomacy and end the Viet Nam War. Each of these pairings was made up of celebrated figures who shared not only cover space but a common goal. This year's choices, Reagan and Andropov, are the first antagonists to be named jointly.

The Man of the Year designation goes to the newsmaker who, for better or worse, has dominated the events of the preceding twelve months. Andropov is the third Soviet leader to be Man of the Year. Joseph Stalin was named in 1939 and again in 1942 because of his country's pivotal role in World War II. Nikita Khrushchev was named in 1957 for the Soviets' remarkable achievements in space.

The selection of a U.S. President is not unusual. Starting with Franklin Roosevelt, TIME'S sixth Man of the Year, every President except Gerald Ford has been designated, most often as President-elect, since almost by definition anyone who enters and wins a U.S. presidential election dominates the year's news. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Franklin Roosevelt were all chosen in their election years; Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Harry Truman in 1948 were both Presidents and Presidents-elect, since they had succeeded to the office through their predecessors' deaths. Johnson was named twice (again in 1967), as was Richard Nixon (previously in 1971). Roosevelt achieved Man of the Year status a record three times: as President-elect (1932), as architect of the New Deal (1934) and as wartime leader (1941).

This issue's Men of the Year stories were supervised by Assistant Managing Editor John Elson and Senior Editor Henry Muller. The main narrative was the work of Senior Writer George Church, who drew extensively on the reporting of Diplomatic Correspondent Strobe Talbott, Moscow Bureau Chief Erik Amfitheatrof, Eastern Europe Bureau Chief John Moody and White House Correspondent Laurence Barrett. Their efforts bring into distinctive focus for TIME'S readers the most compelling story of 1983: the superpowers' confrontation, and the actions of the leaders who must cope with it.