Who Should Be the Person of the Century?

TIME's continuing series of special issues on the 100 most influential people of the 20th century will culminate in December, when we will name a single figure as the Person of the Century. To help the magazine's editors make the choice, we are asking a select group of people to tell us whom they would pick. Here are the latest thought-provoking nominations:

HARRY TRUMAN, who had been a little-known and perhaps ill-prepared Vice President, found himself in 1945 facing the most daunting of responsibilities: ending World War II and containing Soviet communism. Truman's foreign-policy leadership gave the U.S. an unprecedented role in international affairs. The choices he made, from the Marshall Plan--to economically strengthen noncommunist nations in the wake of the war--to the founding of NATO, a peacetime military alliance that would limit the Soviet sphere of influence and provide an umbrella for Germany's reconciliation with Europe, fundamentally reshaped the world and planted the seeds of the Soviet Union's eventual destruction.

--Condoleezza Rice, Provost, Stanford University

BORN May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Mo. 1935-44 U.S. Senator from Missouri 1945 Becomes Vice President and then President 1948 Defeats Thomas Dewey in presidential election DIED Dec. 26, 1972, in Kansas City, Mo.

HIROHITO, EMPEROR OF JAPAN Manifesting wisdom and honor, the Emperor's era of Showa (Enlightened Peace) spanned the greater part of a 20th century during which the struggle between war and peace raged. A decade ago, I witnessed firsthand the final moments of the Showa era with the Emperor's death, and I was highly honored to have been charged with the profound responsibility as government spokesman of announcing the name of the new era of imperial rule, Heisei, which means "Achieving Peace." Thus the legacy of Emperor Showa lives on in his son, Emperor Akihito. We must all make the utmost effort to live up to the name of this era and devote ourselves to ensuring that the approaching new century is truly one of global peace and prosperity.

--Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister, Japan

BORN April 29, 1901, in Tokyo 1926 Becomes divine Emperor of Showa era 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor 1945 Japan surrenders, World War II ends 1946 Renounces imperial divinity DIED Jan. 7, 1989, of cancer, in Tokyo