Hillary Clinton (b. October 26, 1947) served as a New York State Senator from 2001 to 2009 and was appointed the 67th United States Secretary of State in 2009. She is also a former First Lady (1993-2001) and chaired the Task Force on National Health Care Reform while her husband Bill Clinton served as President. She remains a fierce advocate for women’s rights and…more»
Tom Daschle (b. December 9, 1947) is a former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from South Dakota. A Democrat, he served as Senate minority leader and as majority leader during his tenture. He lost his bid for re-election in 2004 following an acrimonious race against Republican John Thune. Daschle was asked to join the Obama administration as Secretary of Health and Human Services, but…more»
Bob Dole (b. July 22, 1923) is an attorney and former United States Senator, serving from 1969 to 1996. As a politician on the national stage, he also had several “almost” moments: he was Gerald Ford’s Vice Presidential running mate in 1976 and was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in the 1996 election. Dole co-chaired a commission to investigate issues at Walter Reed Army…more»
Elizabeth Dole (b. July 29, 1936) has been on the national political stage since the mid-seventies. Starting out as a commissioner for the Federal Trade Commissioner (FTC), she was known as a passionate supporter of consumer rights and equal opportunity for the underserved. Her greatest roles have included: secretary of transportation, where she was the first American woman to hold the position; secretary of…more»
John Edwards (b. June 10, 1953) launched his political career with great hopes for the future, hopes that included the presidency. He earned his law degree in 1977 and worked as a trial attorney, where he made much of his fortune. He served as a United States Senator from North Carolina from 1999 to 2005. He primarily focused on social issues like health care,…more»
Rahm Emanuel (b. November 29, 1959) first gained attention as a fundraising boy wonder. His talents as a fundraiser opened to him the world of politics. Emanuel worked under President Bill Clinton and for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. He was a congressional representative for his hometown of Chicago from 2003 to 2009, and then became President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. He gained a…more»
Geraldine Ferraro (b. August 26, 1935; d. March 26, 2011) was a congressional representative for New York City and the first female Vice Presidential candidate, running alongside presidential hopeful Walter Mondale in 1984. She was also the first Italian-American on a national ticket for public office. Before becoming an icon for the women’s movement, Ferraro worked at a private law practice and then headed…more»
John Foster Dulles (b. February 25, 1888; d. May 24, 1959) served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1953 until 1959, during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dulles focused on American foreign policy to contain communism around the world as a means of securing and maintaining peace. In his role as Secretary of State, Dulles forged strong ties between his office, the…more»
Newt Gingrich (b. June 17, 1943) is a former U.S. Congressman from Georgia who became the first Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives in 40 years in 1994. It was Gingrich's "Contract with America," a sweeping platform of welfare and social reforms that essentially helped give Republicans control of both houses of Congress during the Bill Clinton Administration. While in office, Gingrich led…more»
Al Gore (b. March 31, 1948) was the 45 th Vice President, to President Bill Clinton, serving from 1993 to 2001. He was also a congressman for more than two decades, and in 2000 ran and lost the presidential election to George W. Bush. Since leaving office, Gore has focused all of his energy on the environment and climate change. He founded…more»
Gary Hart (b. November 28, 1936) was a democratic U.S. Senator from Colorado who made unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1984 and 1988. Before the second go-round, rumors began surfacing that he was having an extramarital affair with model Donna Rice. At first he denied it, and challenged the media to follow him. After a photograph surfaced of him and Rice on a…more»
J. Edgar Hoover (b. January 1, 1895; d. May 2, 1972) was the first and most notorious FBI director in American history. He was also a lawyer and criminalist. Over the fifty years that he ran the bureau, he used a wide range of extremely hostile, and often illegal, tactics to cull intelligence on those he deemed a threat to the American people. Though…more»
Donald Hornig (b. March 17, 1920; d. January 21, 2013) was a former president of Brown University. A brilliant chemist, he was better known as one of the inventors of the atom bomb. Hornig graduated from Harvard in 1943 and worked for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and then the Los Alamos Laboratory. In 1945, when he was just 25 years old, Hornig helped…more»
Hubert Humphrey (b. May 27, 1911; d. January 13, 1978) was vice president to President Lyndon B. Johnson and one of the most outspoken political voices of his time on civil rights issues. Growing up in South Dakota, Humphrey first studied to be a pharmacist for his family’s pharmacy business, but he soon returned to school for a master’s in political science. From there…more»
Jon Huntsman (b. March 26, 1960) is a former governor of Utah and US Ambassador to both Singapore and China. He has served in the administrations of four US presidents and made his own run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. A few interesting facts about Huntsman: he is Mormon; he won his second term as Utah’s governor with 78% of the vote; he…more»
Robert F. Kennedy (b. November 20, 1925; d. June 6, 1968) was the brother of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. Senator from New York. He served as U.S. Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. Kennedy was known for his liberalism, civil rights activism and strong stand against organized crime. After his brother's assassination in 1963, Kennedy became a U.S. Senator and began…more»
Ted Kennedy (b. February 22, 1932; d. August 25, 2009) was the youngest of the Kennedy’s nine children and served as a United States Senator for half a century. He was known as “The Lion of the Senate” and worked tirelessly on social and civil rights issues, including voting rights, equality for minorities, women, the disabled and gay Americans, as well as health care…more»
Robert E. Lee (b. January 19, 1807; d. October 12, 1870) was the son of Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee—a Revolutionary War hero—and is best known for his command of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. With his father’s military reputation preceding him, Lee graduated at the top of his class at West Point. He served in the military for many uneventful years. Then…more»
Scooter Libby (b. August 22, 1950) is a former presidential advisor. Libby was the target of an investigation that reached into the highest levels of the Bush Administration. In 2007, Libby was convicted on felony charges of lying and obstructing justice in a federal investigation into the leaked identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson to the press. Libby was fined $250,000 and sentenced…more»
Daniel Moynihan (b. March 16, 1927; d. March 26, 2003) was a sociologist, academic, public servant and politician who spent much of his childhood in New York City. Moynihan grew up in a family that had little and in a neighborhood that required street smarts. As such, he dedicated himself to issues of poverty and urban affairs throughout his life. His most memorable role…more»
Sandra Day O'Connor (b. March 26, 1930) was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. O'Connor was a state senator and judge in Arizona until 1980, when President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the high bench. During her years on the Supreme Court, O'Connor sided with conservatives most of the time, but was a swing vote on many key issues,…more»
Colin Powell (b. April 5, 1937) was the 65th Secretary of State of the United States, and the first African American appointed to the post. He served under President George W. Bush from 2001 until 2004 when he resigned over American foreign policy in Iraq. Powell was a career military man, rising through the ranks to become a four star general. In 1989, he…more»
Karl Rove (b. December 25, 1950) is a political consultant and strategist who successfully ran the campaigns of several well-known conservative politicians, including President George W. Bush. Once in office, Bush appointed Rove as his Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor. Rove was extremely influential within the Bush administration and the President went so far as to call him “The Architect” during his…more»
Donald H. Rumsfeld (b. July 9, 1932) was both the oldest person to serve as U.S. Defense Secretary and the youngest. He was named to the post in 1975 by President Gerald Ford when he was 43 and then again by president George W. Bush in 2001 at age 69. Rumsfeld's career has placed him in many top level public and private sector jobs.…more»
Fred Thompson (b. August 19, 1942) is ubiquitous in the public sphere: he made a name for himself in politics, in Hollywood, as a radio host, and as a lawyer and newspaper columnist. His first major public role was in 1967 as Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, which investigated Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal. Then, after playing himself in the movie…more»