Five important (and unknown) people in our world today:

Koffi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations

If little green men from outer space ever ask you for our leader, this would be that man.  He's black and he's bad, though he's no Morgan Freeman, he is currently Secretary General of the United Nations, which is like being the President without the power.  Seriously, this man is undoubtedly one of the largest influences in our world today.  Born in Ghana, educated in the U.S., married to a Swede (lucky man) and fluent in half a dozen languages, he's obviously qualified for the job.  The only question is, can he tango?

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

Between killing Chechen rebels and losing subs (he's up to two now), this man still finds time for vacations in the Baltics.  As the former head of the KGB (like the Gestapo) morality and ethics are definitely not obstacles in this man's path, though he is behind the recent government crusade against monopolies.  Guess they didn't pay him off enough.  (note:  Can you really blame him?  His country only has a decade of democracy to rely on, whereas we have over two-hundred years)

Executive Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (that's a mouthful)

These guys are the ones who make or break economies on a national level.  They say the international outlook is bleak and you'll feel it in the form of higher taxes, higher prices of foreign goods, etc.  They also moonlight as third-world do-gooders but are mainly concerned with monitoring and sometimes regulating international trade in the form of currency exchanges.  While their job might be as much fun as sticking a pencil in your eye, they are crucial to the world's economy.

William Donaldson, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission

Another old white guy with power, his job is to regulate the buying and selling of stocks.  While this might seem a world away from your average person, consider this.  You go to ANY any school and part of that school is subsidized through partial federal funding or at the very least, generous tax breaks.  For the government to do this, they must borrow money from a bank, who made their money by investing in stocks.  Without this organization, stocks would not exist, nor modern banks.  Basically, close this agency and the majority of schools, hospitals, etc. would no longer be open.

Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, Department of Health and Human Services Surgeon General

This guy's job is the health and welfare of the entire country.  Talk about a big job.  Educational programs, vaccination programs, etc.  That's all under his job responsibilities.  Contrary to popular belief, you can be a general or admiral without being in the military.  If you want to be literal about it, the U.S. PHS is a uniformed service, similar to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast guard (the Marines are Navy)  This means they get neato titles like Admiral and General without people shooting at them.  Sounds like a good idea to me ;)