Adolf Hitler
Challenge: Defend a subject you do not agree with. For the record, I do not like Hitler.
Hitler did a damn good job. I know he catches a bunch of flack for the holocaust, and that is deserved, but if you look at the big picture, he was a net gain for humanity. (His reign, not the holocaust)
People's one time Man of the Year started a war that shaped our future. Innovations abounded in this period of strife known as World War 2. Radar was invented to see enemy planes, now we use it to look into space. Rocket technology advanced exponentially to send us into space. Computers got a start as decoding machines, now they are everywhere and do everything. Without that external threat, advances would have taken decades more if they happened at all.
There is an argument to be made against him for the creation of a nuclear bomb, but even that could be described as a political bonding catalyst. We signed many treaties over the years improving relation because after all, 'a well armed society is a polite society'.
So, you may see a man that is responsible for the greatest genocide of the modern world, but I tell you this, Adolf Hitler is the man who is responcible for jumpstarting the modern world. People died in the conflict and that is devistating, but think of how many have been saved by penacillian alone (research and development financed by Allied War Bonds). If you look at the big picture, Adolf Hitler is a hero.