Famous People Who Held Political Office a to z

Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, and became the unofficial president of the State of Palestine in 2008.

Grace Abbott is best known for her social activism on behalf of immigrants and children. She headed the Children's Bureau from 1921 to 1934.

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian business tycoon, one of the richest men in the world and owner of the Chelsea Football Club.

Gerry Adams is president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

John Adams was a Founding Father, the first vice president of the United States and the second president. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth president.

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States. He was also the eldest son of President John Adams, the second U.S. president.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is best known as the controversial sixth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Syed Ahmed Khan was an Indian educator, politician and Islamic reformer whose work inspired a new generation of Muslims and pioneered the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century.

Akbar the Great, Muslim emperor of India, established a sprawling kingdom through military conquests, but is known for his policy of religious tolerance.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan (1918–2004) was ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates 1971–2004.

Hafez al-Assad served as president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He is widely criticized for his brutal tactics but also praised for stabilizing the country.

Muammar al-Qaddafi seized control of the Libyan government in 1969, and ruled as an authoritarian dictator for more than 40 years before he was overthrown in 2011.

Madeleine Albright became the first woman to represent the U.S. in regards to foreign affairs as the secretary of state.

Raúl Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and is known best for being the first democratically elected president of Argentina.

Corazon Aquino was the 11th president (and first female president) of the Philippines. She restored democracy after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Yasser Arafat was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 until his death in 2004, a tumultuous period in which clashes with neighboring Israel were prevalent.

Chester A. Arthur was 21st president of the United States. Arthur was vice president at the time President Garfield was assassinated, and acceded to the presidency thereafter.

Nancy Astor (1879–1965) was the first woman to serve in the British Parliament, where she advocated temperance, women's rights and German appeasement.

William Waldorf Astor was a wealthy descendant of John Jacob Astor who became a New York State senator and a member of the New York State Assembly.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a revolutionary who helped establish the Republic of Turkey. He was Turkey's first president, and his reforms modernized the country.

In 2011, Kelly Ayotte was elected to represent New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate, after previously serving as the state's attorney general.

Michelle Bachelet was the first female president of Chile who served from 2006–2010.

Michele Bachmann is a congresswoman best known for her conservative Tea Party politics, and her candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Francis Bacon was an English Renaissance statesman and philosopher, best known for his promotion the scientific method.

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was the fourth prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan political leader, becoming the world’s first woman prime minister in 1960.

The first U.S. commissioner of education, Henry Barnard founded the Connecticut Common School journal and the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction.

Civil rights activist Marion S. Barry Jr. has served four terms as mayor of D.C., with his career surviving numerous scandals.

Edward Bates was a 19th century politician and lawyer who served as U.S. attorney general under President Abraham Lincoln.

John Bell was elected Tennessee senator in 1847, serving in the Senate until 1859. He was also a U.S. presidential nominee on the eve of the American Civil War.

Luciano Benetton is the founder of the Benetton Group, which sells clothing in varying lines, notably the United Colors of Benetton.

Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by Marxist guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) while campaigning for the presidency.

Benazir Bhutto became the first female prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. She was killed by a suicide bomber in 2007.

Former Delaware Senator Joe Biden was elected the 47th U.S. vice president with President Barack Obama in 2008. He earned a second term as vice president when Obama was re-elected to the presidency in 2012.

Hussein bin Talal served as king of Jordan from 1953 to 1999. He helped guide his country into the modern era.

Tony Blair was leader of the British Labour Party from 1994 to 2007, and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.

Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire buisnessman and a three-term mayor of New York City.

John Boehner is best known as the Republican Speaker of the House, beginning in January 2011.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).

Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military leader who was instrumental in the revolutions against the Spanish empire.

Musician and politician Sonny Bono was once wed to singer Cher and in 1994 was elected to U.S. Congress as a representative from California.

Subhas Chandra Bose was a 20th century organizational and military leader who fought for India’s freedom from British rule.

Tom Bradley was a lawyer and police officer who became the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles, serving from 1973 to 1993.

Ron Brown was a lawyer and Democratic politician who served as commerce secretary under the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Republican Scott Brown was elected to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate in 2010.

Willie Brown is a politician who became the first African-American speaker of the California State Assembly in 1980. He later served as mayor of San Francisco.

Formerly enslaved, Blanche K. Bruce made history as the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate.

Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, serving under President Thomas Jefferson. Burr fatally shot his rival, Alexander Hamilton, during a duel.

The 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush served as vice president under Ronald Reagan. He is the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd president.

George W. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States. He led his country's response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and initiated the Iraq War in 2003.

Jeb Bush is an American politician best known for serving as Florida's governor from 1998 to 2007. He is the son of 41st U.S. President George Bush and brother of 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush.

Puerto Rican politician and businesswoman Sila María Calderón is best known for becoming the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 2001, serving until 2005.

John C. Calhoun was an American congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president, senator and secretary of state. He championed states' rights and slavery.

David Cameron is best known for being a revolutionary leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a quality that eventually won him the election as prime minister in 2010.

Venustiano Carranza was a revolutionary during Mexico's civil war and became the Mexican Republic's first president in 1917.

Rosalynn Carter is an American First Lady best known as the wife of President Jimmy Carter during his term from 1977-'81.

Robert Cascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, is best known as one of the chief architects behind the League of Nations.

Charlemagne was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, best known for uniting Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Charles I of Hungary was forced to surrender his power to Wenceslas of Bohemia, but later reclaimed the throne and formed a defensive alliance with Poland.

Charles I was a monarch of the Hapsburg line who was the last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. He lost his throne at the end of World War I.

Charles II was the monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland during much of the latter half of the 17th century, marking the Restoration era.

As Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase implemented the National Banking Act and was the sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Samuel Chase was an associate Supreme Court justice until he was impeached. His political views gradually turned from support of states’ rights to Federalism.

Dick Cheney served four Republican presidents and spent six terms in the House. The former Vice President specialized in defense, energy, and the Middle East.