Netflix has named Susan Rice to its board of directors. The former Obama ambassador has been criticized for her handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi. Meanwhile, Barack and Michelle Obama are reportedly in talks to provide shows for the company.
The wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of the first lady through her active participation in American politics.
Madeleine Albright became the first woman to represent the U.S. in foreign affairs as the secretary of state.
Deemed one of the finest contraltos of her time, Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955.
Colin Powell was the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State, and the first, and so far the only, to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Ralph Bunche was a Nobel Peace Prize–winning academic and U.N. diplomat known for his peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East, Africa and the Mediterranean.
Nikki Haley is the United States Ambassador to the United Nations appointed by President Donald Trump. She was governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and was the first female and Indian-American to serve in this office.
George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States and served as vice president under Ronald Reagan. He was also the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd President.
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer and cartographer best known for establishing and governing the settlements of New France and the city of Quebec.
Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
Writer, lawyer and diplomat, Caroline Kennedy is the only surviving child of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Joseph P. Kennedy is best known as the father of three political leaders: President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Representative Ted Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, who served as a U.S. senator and attorney general.
Shirley Temple was the leading child actor of her time, receiving a special Oscar and starring in films like Bright Eyes and Heidi.
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.
Thomas Jefferson was a draftsman of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president (1801-09). He was also responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.
Swedish businessman and diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is best known for saving thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II.
Golda Meir was best known as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel and the first woman to hold the title.
Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet who was once called "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language."
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was an American Revolutionary War veteran, South Carolina legislator and two-time presidential candidate.
The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe is known for his "Monroe Doctrine," disallowing further European colonization in the Americas.
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours was a French economist and intellectual who took part in many key political events of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Born in Egypt, Mohamed ElBaradei is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader known for his pro-democratic views and diplomatic policies on nuclear disarmament.
Sargent Shriver was a political administrator and diplomat perhaps best known for designing the U.S. Peace Corps, which was established in 1961. Shriver served as first director of the organization from its inception until 1966.
American actor and businessman John Gavin starred in such classic films as Psycho and Midnight Lace, and was also U.S ambassador to Mexico under Ronald Reagan.
