It's a little late, but how could you forget about fucking Elvis P. and also Al Gore, inventor of the internet.
-Citizen Jack

My choice for the 20th century's most influential person would be J. Robert Oppenheim. He is primarily responsible for something that could (adversely) affect every person on the planet. Howzat for "influence"?
Willie Moseley

I'd have to say that it's Adolph Hitler. First, he showed the totality of what a nation-state can accomplish, free from ethics and bent towards (in this case) a particularly perverse goal. Highly educated people followed Hitler, absorbing and prosetelyzing his message, and an entire cult was created around his worship as a deliverer. While there would certainly have been a war sooner or later, he effectively forced the world's hand at a particular (and fortunate) time, employing vast industry to the wholesale destruction of the most advanced continent in the world. World War II was the seminal event in the 20th century. Consider all the things that World War II ended: colonialism (although its slow decay dragged into the following decades, its real death was here), Europe as the eminent power broker(s), and a multipolar world (one could argue that world power is now in its monotheistic incarnation). World War II began the nuclear era, the arms race, the bipolar Cold War, and the era of superpower surrogacy. No longer needed was the colonial system; a careful arrangement of alliances would enable the two world superpowers to continue an otherwise cold war hotly through the third world. Colonialism was replaced by third world debt, keeping the resources flowing while eliminating the need to maintain a large standing army. All in all, the 20th century was a big win for capitalism, plutocracy, complacent security-seekers, and people who take their soma.

Without Hitler, Germany or some fusion of Germany, Austria, and Hungary (and whatever it could manage to consume), could have very well created a tripolar world and acquired nuclear weapons, possibly before the United States. The aftermath of World War II's carnage led to the creation of the United Nations and the concept of world community that never took root in the League of Nations. Lastly, World War II led to a generally passive Europe markedly different than the bloody battleground it has historically been. Hitler was both bitter medicine and a cautionary tale for those who doubted realpolitik, and those that emphasized symbolism over substance. The terrible experience dealing with him and the weapons that grew from conflict with him led major powers to deter rather than risk obscene loss of life.

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Got Three:

Chief Justice Earl Warren: Wrote the decision of Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka which, of course, paved the way for the desegragation of US schools.

Pres. Harry S. Truman: Desegregated the US Military.

Pres. Woodrow Wilson: Whose policy of making the world safe for democracy is still haunting us today

Christopher Stanwood

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Number 6--"The Prisoner"

Andrew Williams