List of Jewish American politicians

:"This is a list of famous Jewish American politicians, arranged chronologically. For other famous Jewish Americans, see List of Jewish Americans."

List

Cabinet members and senior administration officials

*Judah Benjamin, Confederate States of America: Attorney General (1861), Secretary of War (1861), Secretary of State (1862–65)
*Oscar Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor (1906–09)
*Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury (1934–45)
*Arthur J. Goldberg, Secretary of Labor (1961-1962)
*Abraham A. Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1961-62)
*Walter W. Rostow, National Security Advisor (1966-69)
*Wilbur J. Cohen, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1968-69)
*James Schlesinger, CIA Director (1973), Secretary of Defense (1973–75) (convert to Lutheranism)
*Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor (1969–75); Secretary of State (1973–77)
*Ron Nessen, White House Press Secretary (1974-77)
*Edward Levi, Attorney General (1975–1977)
*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)
*Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense (1981-87) (Episcopalian; paternal descendant of Czech Jews)
*Kenneth Duberstein, White House Chief of Staff (1988–1989)
*Richard Darman, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1989-93) (convert to Episcopalianism)
*Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor (1993–97)
*Alice M. Rivlin, Director of Office of Management and Budget (1994-96)
*John M. Deutch, Belgian-born CIA director (1995–96)
*Robert Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury (1995–99)
*Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture (1995–2001)
*Mickey Kantor, Secretary of Commerce (1996-97)
*Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State (1997–01) (raised Catholic by converted parents)
*William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense (1997-01) (Jewish father; lists self as Unitarian Universalist)
*Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor (1997–01)
*Larry Summers, Secretary of the Treasury (1999–01)
*Jacob Lew, Director of Office of Management and Budget (1999–2001)
*Leon Fuerth, National Security Advisor to Vice President Al Gore (1993–2001)
*Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary (2001–03)
*Michael Chertoff, Secretary for Homeland Security (2005–)
*Joshua Bolten, Director of Office of Management and Budget (2003-06); White House Chief of Staff (2006– )
*Michael Mukasey, Attorney General (2007- )

Current Senators

Former 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)
*Barry M. Goldwater, senator (R-AZ: 1953–1965, 1969–1987), raised as an Episcopalian
*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)
*Pierre Salinger, senator (D-CA: 1964) (Catholic mother)
*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)
*William Cohen, senator (R-ME: 1979–97) (Jewish father; Irish-Protestant mother)
*Warren Rudman, senator (R-NH: 1980-93)
*Jacob Hecht, senator (R-NV: 1983–89)
*Paul Wellstone, senator (D-MN: 1991–02)
*George Allen, senator (R-VA: 2001–2007) (Allen's mother is Jewish, he was raised as a Presbyterian)cite news|last=|first=|coauthors=|title=New 'N Word' Woe For George Allen|pages=|publisher=CBS News|date=2006-09-26|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/26/politics/main2039589.shtml|accessdate=2007-08-30]

Current Representatives

Former Representatives

"Prominent representatives only — for a full list see [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/housejews.html jewishvirtuallibrary.org] ."
(Chronologically)
*Francis Salvador, first Jewish member of a colonial legislature.
*Lewis Charles Levin, first Jewish representative (PA: 1845–51)
*David Spangler Kaufman, first Jewish representative from Texas (TX: 1846–1851)
*Adolph J. Sabath, (D-IL, 1907-1952)
*Victor L. Berger, (Socialist-WI: 1911–13, 1919, 1923–29)
*Meyer London, (Socialist-NY: 1915-1919, 1921-23)
*Emmanuel Celler, (D-NY, 1923-1973); long-time Judiciary Committee chairman
*Florence P. Kahn, (R-CA, 1925-37); first Jewish woman representative
*Jacob K. Javits, (R-NY, 1947-54)
*Abraham A. Ribicoff, (D-CT, 1949-53)
*Isidore Dollinger, (D-NY, 1949-59)
*Sidney Yates, (D-IL, 1949-63, 1965-99)
*Samuel Friedel, (D-MD, 1953-71)
*Herbert Zelenko, (D-NY, 1955-63)
*Leonard Farbstein, (D-NY, 1957-71)
*Seymour Halpern, (R-NY, 1959-73)
*Benjamin S. Rosenthal, (D-NY, 1962-83)
*James Scheuer, (D-NY, 1965-73,1975-93)
*Abner Mikva, (D-IL, 1969-1973, 1975-79)
*Edward I. Koch (D-NY, 1969-77)
*Allard K. Lowenstein, (D-NY, 1969-71); civil rights activist
*Bella Abzug, (D-NY, 1971-77); feminist leader and gay rights activist
*Benjamin Gilman, (R-NY, 1973–2003)
*Elizabeth Holtzman, (D-NY, 1973-81)
*Elliot Levitas, (D-GA, 1975-85)
*Theodore Weiss, (D-NY, 1977-92)
*Dan Glickman, (D-KS, 1977-95)
*Martin Frost, (D-TX, 1979-2005); former chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
*Ron Wyden, (D-ORE, 1981-96)
*Charles Schumer, (D-NY, 1981-1999)
*Tom Lantos, (D-CAL, 1981-2008); the first and only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in Congress
*Bobbi Fiedler, (R-CAL, 1981-87) leader of anti-busing movement in the San Fernando Valley, defeated long-time incumbent Congressman James C. Corman in the 1980 elections
*Sam Gejdenson, (D-CT: 1981–2001)
*Barbara Boxer, (D-CAL, 1983-92)
*Benjamin Erdreich, (D-ALABAMA, 1983-1993)
*Bernie Sanders, (Independent-VT, 1991–2007) [Sanders — [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/30323/format/html/displaystory.html] "Two Jews won their bids to become the Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate — Ben Cardin in Maryland and Bernie Sanders in Vermont."]
*Peter Deutsch (D-FL: 1993–2005)
*Ben Cardin (D-MD: 1987–2007) [Cardin — [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/30323/format/html/displaystory.html] "Two Jews won their bids to become the Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate — Ben Cardin in Maryland and Bernie Sanders in Vermont."]

Ambassadors

*Henry Morgenthau Sr., ambassador to Ottoman Empire (1913–16)
*Henry Grunwald, ambassador to Austria (1988–1990)
*Martin Indyk, ambassador to Israel (1995–97, 2000–01)
*Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy
*Randal Jilek, ambassador to Ethiopia (1988-1991)
*Matthew Takash, ambassador to Pakistan (1987-1990)
*Don Bandler, ambassador to Cyprus ()
*Robert Schwarz Strauss, ambassador to the Soviet Union during the presidency of George H. W. Bush
*Martin Silverstein, ambassador to Uruguay (2001–2006)
*Sam Fox, ambassador to Belgium (2007-)
*Daniel C. Kurtzer, ambassador to Israel and formerly ambassador to Egypt
*Ronald S.Lauder, ambassador to Austria (1986-87)

Governors

*David Emanuel, governor of Georgia (D/R-GA: 1801-1801)
*Edward Salomon, governor of Wisconsin (R-WI: 1862–64)
*Edward S. Salomon, governor of the Washington Territory (R-WA: 1870–72)
*Franklin Israel Moses, Jr., governor of South Carolina (R-SC: 1872–74) (raised Episcopalian)
*Washington Bartlett, governor of California (D-CA: 1887–1887)
*Moses Alexander, governor of Idaho (D-ID: 1915-1919), first elected practicing Jew to serve as a state governor
*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)
*Frank Licht, governor of Rhode Island (D-RI: 1969–73)
*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)
*George Allen, governor of Virginia (R-VA 1994-98) (Allen's mother is Jewish, he was raised as a Presbyterian)
*Linda Lingle, governor of Hawaii (R-HI: 2002–)
*Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania (D-PA: 2003–)
*Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York (D-NY: 2007–2008)

Mayors

*Cincinnati: Bill Gradison (1971), Jerry Springer [Springer — [http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/10452/] "The Jewish talk-show host..."] (1977–78)
*Iowa City: Moses Bloom (1873, First Jewish Mayor of a Major city)
*Las Vegas: Oscar Goodman (1999–)
*Louisville: Jerry Abramson (1985–98, 2002–)
*New York: Fiorello LaGuardia (1934–45; Episcopalian; 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)
*Saint Paul, Minnesota: Norm Coleman (1994-2002)
*Portland, Oregon: Vera Katz (1992–2004)
*San Diego: Susan Golding (1992–2000)
*San Francisco: Washington Bartlett (1883–1887)
*San Francisco: Adolph Sutro (1894–1896)
*San Francisco: Dianne Feinstein (1978–88)
*Seattle: Bailey Gatzert (1875–76)
*Indianapolis: Stephen Goldsmith (1992–99)
*Portland, Maine: James Cohen (2005–6)
*Dallas, Texas: Laura Miller (2002–2007), Annette Strauss (1987-1991)
*Beverly Hills, California: Jimmy Delshad (2007–)
*Richard L. Berkley (born Richard L. Berkowitz, June 29, 1931) served as mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., from 1979 to 1991.

Economists

"See also List of Jewish American economists"
* Bernard Baruch, economic adviser to many U.S. presidents, statesman, stock market speculator
* Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve (2006–)
* Milton Friedman
* Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve (1987–2006)
* Eugene Meyer, chairman of the Federal Reserve (1930–1933), president of the World Bank (1946)
* Haym Solomon, financier during the American Revolution
* Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel Prize winner and Chief Economist of the World Bank (1997-2000)
* James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank (1995–2005)
* Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank (2005–2007)
* Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank (2007-)

Other

*Jay Dardenne, Louisiana secretary of state since 2006
*Franklin J. Moses, Sr., politician, judge, and attorney important in the history of 19th Century South Carolina
*Bernard Stone, alderman of the 50th Ward in Chicago, Illinois
*Kinky Friedman, 2006 Texas Independent gubernatorial candidate
*Jason Bedrick, first Orthodox elected official in New Hampshire

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467657033&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull Most Jews ever set to enter Congress] — from "The Jerusalem Post" (Jan. 7th, 2007)
* [http://www.aipac.org/ The American Israel Public Affairs Committee]