- Other Views
- August 2, 2006
- 40 minutes read
Jews in US politics
Presidential candidates
- Barry Goldwater, Republican presidential nominee in 1964 (half Jewish)
- Joseph Lieberman, vice-presidential candidate on 2000 Democratic Party ticket with presidential candidate Al Gore
- Milton Shapp, presidential candidate in 1976 Democratic Party primaries
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Cabinet members and senior administration officials
- Judah Benjamin, Confederate attorney general (1861), secretary of war (1861) & state (1862-65)
- Oscar Straus, secretary of commerce & labor (1906-09)
- Henry Morgenthau, Jr., secretary of the treasury (1934-45)
- Pierre Salinger, white house press secretary (1961-64) (Jewish father)
- James Schlesinger, CIA Director 1973 Secretary of Defense (1973-75) (Converted to Christianity)
- Henry Kissinger, national security advisor (1969-75), secretary of state (1973-77)
- W. Michael Blumenthal, secretary of the treasury (1977-79)
- Harold Brown, secretary of defense (1977-81)
- Neil Goldschmidt, secretary of transportation (1979-1981)
- Philip Morris Klutznick, secretary of commerce (1980-1981)
- Robert Reich, secretary of labor (1993-97)
- John M. Deutch, Belgian-born CIA director (1995-96)
- Robert Rubin, secretary of the treasury (1995-99)
- Madeleine Albright, secretary of state (1997-01) (raised Episcopalian by converted parents) (a jew by any other religion is still a jew!)
- Sandy Berger, national security advisor (1997-01)
- Larry Summers, secretary of the treasury (1999-01)
- Ari Fleischer, white house press secretary (2001-03)
- Michael Chertoff, homeland security secretary (2005-)
- Leon Fuerth, national security advisor to Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001)
- Edward Levi, attorney general (1975-1977)
- Joshua Bolten, White House Chief of Staff (2006-)
- Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture (1995-2001)
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Senators
- David Levy Yulee, senator (D-FL: 1845-51, 1855-61)
- Judah Benjamin, senator (Whig-LA: 1853-61)
- Benjamin F. Jonas, senator (D-LA: 1879-85)
- Joseph Simon, senator (R-OR: 1898-03)
- Isidor Rayner, senator (D-MD: 1905-12)
- Simon Guggenheim, senator (R-CO: 1907-13)
- Herbert Lehman, senator (D-NY: 1949-57)
- Richard L. Neuberger, senator (D-OR: 1955-60)
- Jacob Javits, senator (R-NY: 1957-81)
- Ernest Gruening, senator (D-AK: 1959-69)
- Abraham Ribicoff, senator (D-CT: 1963-81)
- Howard Metzenbaum, senator (D-OH: 1974, 1976-95)
- Richard B. Stone , senator (D-FL: 1975-80)
- Edward Zorinsky, senator (D-NE: 1976-87)
- Rudy Boschwitz, senator (R-MN: 1978-91)
- Carl Levin, senator (D-MI: 1979-)
- Warren Rudman, senator (R-NH: 1980-93)
- Arlen Specter, senator (R-PA: 1981-)
- Frank Lautenberg, senator (D-NJ: 1982-01, 2003-)
- Jacob Hecht, senator (R-NV: 1983-89)
- Herb Kohl, senator (D-WI: 1989-)
- Joseph Lieberman, senator (D-CT: 1989-)
- Paul Wellstone, senator (D-MN: 1991-02)
- Dianne Feinstein, senator (D-CA: 1992-)
- Barbara Boxer, senator (D-CA: 1992-)
- Russ Feingold, senator (D-WI: 1993-)
- Ron Wyden, senator (D-OR: 1996-)
- Charles Schumer, senator (D-NY: 1999-)
- Norm Coleman, senator (R-MN: 2003-)
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Representatives
Prominent representatives only – for a full list see jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- Francis Salvador, first Jewish member of a colonial legislature.
- Lewis Charles Levin, first Jewish representative (PA: 1845-51)
- Victor L. Berger, socialist (Soc-WI: 1911-13, 1919, 1923-29)
- Florence P. Kahn, first Jewish woman representative (R-CA: 1925-37)
- Allard K. Lowenstein, civil rights activist (D-NY: 1969-1971)
- Bella Abzug, feminist leader & gay rights activist (D-NY: 1971-77)
- Henry Waxman, liberal leader (D-CA: 1975-)
- Barney Frank, liberal, openly gay politician (D-MA: 1981-)
- Sam Gejdenson, (D-CT: 1981-2001)
- Tom Lantos, Holocaust survivor (D-CA: 1981-)
- Gary Ackerman, (D-NY: 1983-)
- Bernie Sanders, independent (Ind-VT: 1991-)
- Jerrold Nadler, WTC district congressman during 9/11 (D-NY: 1992-)
- Adam Schiff (D-CA: 2001-)
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL: 2005-)
- Peter Deutsch (D-FL: 1993-2005)
- Steve Israel (D-NY: 2001-)
- Anthony Weiner (D-NY: 1999-)
- Eliot Engel (D-NY: 1989-)
- Robert Wexler (D-FL: 1997-)
- Jan Schakowsky (D-IL: 1999-)
- Rahm Emanuel, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair (2005-), (D-IL: 2003-)
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-FL), raised Catholic by a Jewish mother who converted to Catholicism
- Eric Cantor, (R-VA: 2001-), Chief Deputy Republican Whip
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Ambassadors
- Martin Indyk, ambassador to Israel (1995-97, 2000-01)
- Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy
- Robert Schwarz Strauss,ambassador]] to the Soviet Union during the presidency of George H. W. Bush
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Governors
- Moses Alexander, governor of Idaho (D-ID: 1915-19)
- Simon Bamberger, governor of Utah (D-UT: 1917-21)
- Arthur Seligman, governor of New Mexico (D-NM: 1931-33)
- Julius L. Meier, governor of Oregon (Ind-OR: 1931-35)
- Henry Horner, governor of Illinois (D-IL: 1933-40)
- Herbert H. Lehman, governor of New York (D-NY: 1933-42)
- Ernest Gruening, territorial governor of Alaska (D-AK: 1939-53)
- Abraham Ribicoff, governor of Connecticut (D-CT: 1955-61)
- Samuel H. Shapiro, governor of Illinois (D-IL: 1968-69)
- Marvin Mandel, governor of Maryland (D-MD: 1969-77)
- Milton Shapp, governor of Pennsylvania (D-PA: 1971-79)
- Madeleine M. Kunin, governor of Vermont (D-VT: 1985-91)
- Neil Goldschmidt, governor of Oregon (D-OR: 1987-91)
- Bruce Sundlun, governor of Rhode Island (D-RI: 1991-95)
- Linda Lingle, governor of Hawaii (R-HI: 2002-)
- Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania (D-PA: 2003-)
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Mayors
Prominent mayors/major cities only.
- Cincinnati: Bill Gradison (1971), Jerry Springer (1977-78)
- Las Vegas: Oscar Goodman (1999-)
- Louisville: Jerry E. Abramson (1985-98, 2002-)
- New York: Fiorello LaGuardia (1934-45; Jewish mother)
- New York: Abe Beame (1974-77)
- New York: Ed Koch (1978-89)
- New York: Michael Bloomberg (2002-)
- Philadelphia: Edward Rendell (1992–2000)
- Pittsburgh: Sophie Masloff (1988-1993)
- Portland, Oregon: Vera Katz (1992-2004)
- San Diego: Susan Golding (1992-2000)
- San Francisco: Adolph Sutro (1894-96), Dianne Feinstein (1978–88)
- Seattle: Bailey Gatzert (1875-76)
- Indianapolis: Stephen Goldsmith (1992-99)
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Economists
- Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve (2006-)
- Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve (1987-2006)
- Eugene Meyer, chairman of the Federal Reserve (1930-1933), president of the World Bank (1946)
- James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank (1995-2005)
- Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank (2005-)
- Walter Block, President of the Jewish Libertarian Coalition (2006-)
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Other
- Elliott Abrams, current National Security Council staff candidate; an Assistant Secretary of State in the 1980s; enmeshed in Iran-Contra scandal
- Irving Kristol, one of the founders of the neoconservative movement, along with wife, Gertrude Himmelfarb
- Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic Party Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis
- William Kristol, right-wing editor of The Daily Standard (son of Irving Kristol)
- Jean Lafitte, Buccaneer leader of the early 1800s.
- Monica Lewinsky, sex scandal intern, fashion designer
- Ken Mehlman, current (since 2005) Head of Republican National Committee
- Dick Morris, is a political author and commentator who was once a successful pollster and campaign consultant. Morris is best known for managing Bill Clinton’s successful 1996 bid for re-election.
- Jack Abramoff, embattled lobbyist and GOP supporter
- Norman Podhoretz, one of the founders of the neoconservative movement, along with wife, Midge Decter
- Judith Steinberg Dean, wife of Democrat Howard Dean
- Kinky Friedman, 2006 Texas Independent Gubernatorial Candidate
- Robert Schwarz Strauss, longtime prominent Democratic Party activist from Texas, former Head of Democratic National Committee, Ambassador to the former Soviet Union during the presidency of George H. W. Bush
- Alisa Cooper, Atlantic County Freeholder at Large