President-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris have been awarded Time Magazine's coveted 'Person of the Year' for 2020.
Time's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said that the pair won the honor for "changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, and for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world."
It is commonplace for presidents to receive the honor, and it has been awarded to every president since Franklin D Roosevelt at some point during their term, Sky News reports.
Other nominees for the award in 2020 included Biden's rival President Donald Trump, frontline healthcare workers, top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the movement for racial justice.
Alongside Biden and Harris' win, Korean boyband BTS won the magazine's 'Entertainer of the Year', and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was awarded 'Athlete of the Year'.
Following Biden's election win last month, the magazine said he "had the vision, set the tone and topped the ticket".
Meanwhile, acknowledging Harris' role in the Democratic victory, they said that she represented something that Biden did not: "Generational change, a fresh perspective, and an embodiment of America's diversity."
In the video below, Harris calls Biden to congratulate him on his projected presidential win:Harris will become the first female vice president, as well as the first black or Asian-American vice president.
In her victory speech, Sky News reports, Harris said: "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last."
"To the woman most responsible for my presence here today - my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts," she said.
"When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment.
"But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. And so, I'm thinking about her and about the generations of women - black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women who throughout our nation's history have paved the way for this moment tonight."
Harris then honored women who "fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty, and justice for all", and she gave a special mention to those who fought for voting equality and black women, who are "too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy".
As per Sky News, Biden and Harris received more votes than any other candidates in US Presidental history, garnering 81 million votes and counting.
