The other day, we happened to read the Playboy Interview with Frank Sinatra (February 1963). That's when Ol' Blue Eyes was at the peak of his powers. He could sing, obviously. He could dance. He could act well enough to win an Academy Award. He was smart and funny, yet scary. All the women wanted him and all the guys wanted to be like him. In fact, from about 1954 until Elvis Presely appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1956, Frank Sinatra was the Coolest Guy in the World.

There is always one Coolest Guy in the World. Sometimes his reign lasts for years, as with Sinatra, Elvis and Steve McQueen. Sometimes, the reign is only a few weeks, like with Michael Phelps. For a brief period s in 1977, hard as this is to believe, there was actually a moment when Woody Allen was the Coolest Guy in the World.

Who, then, is the current CGITW? After exhaustive research, which consisted mostly of sitting around and spitballing over beers, we gathered dozens of potential Coolest Guys from the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, and anything else we could think of.

There's no good rock stars. Brandon Flowers is too fruity. Axl Rose is too crazy. Bono is too… Bono-ish. Brad Pitt used to be a CG, but he's getting weird, with that strange wife and their 47 kids. Shia LeBouf was a candidate until someone pointed out that no one named "LeBouf" can possibly be the Coolest Guy in the World.

At long last, we narrowed it down to three finalists; LeBron James, Barack Obama and Justin Timberlake.