1. Henry Clay
“The Great Compromiser,” Clay held just about every major political job except president: senator, House speaker, and secretary of state at various times.
2. William Jennings Bryan
A three-time nominee for president, Bryan mainstreamed populism in the Democratic Party with his soaring rhetoric and potent connection with the common man. While he never won the big prize, many of his policies eventually became law.
3. John C. Calhoun
Vice president under both John Quincy Adams and his nemesis/successor, Andrew Jackson, the father of secession is remembered for his pro-slavery stances, especially through his discredited nullification doctrine.
4. Alexander Hamilton
Not just a Broadway legend, Hamilton helped write the Constitution and then, as the nation’s first treasury secretary, helped establish the U.S. financial system.
5. Barry Goldwater
The Arizona Republican lost badly to Lyndon Johnson in 1964, but his campaign and embrace of conservatism transformed the GOP. A decade later, he was one of those who finally convinced Richard Nixon to quit.
6. Nancy Pelosi
The first female speaker of the House was one of the most talented legislative leaders of any era. During her two tenures, she oversaw the passage the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
7. Earl Warren
A conservative California governor, Chief Justice Warren “ended up forging a progressive consensus that ended the Red Scare and decided Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona, and Loving v. Virginia,” NYU’s Cristina Beltrán noted.
8. Hillary Clinton
Senator, secretary of state, and Democratic presidential nominee, Clinton is, Fordham Law’s Julie Suk wrote, “a brilliant woman whose flaws awakened the misogyny of American voters that contributed to Trump’s rise.” But she got a lot more votes than he did.
T-9. Shirley Chisholm
People laughed at a Black woman running to be president in 1972. But she made history, and someday, a Black woman will win, and no one will laugh.
T-9. Jesse Jackson
For being on the Lorraine Motel balcony that fateful day; for his groundbreaking presidential campaigns, which gave voice to workers and farmers when doing so wasn’t cool.
T-9 John Marshall
The fourth, and arguably most influential, chief justice of the United States, Marshall secured the judiciary’s role as a coequal branch of the fledgling U.S. government.
T-9. George Wallace
A pro-segregation Alabama governor, Wallace personified the split within the Democratic Party that led Southern conservatives to migrate to the GOP. He won 46 electoral votes (including five states) in 1968, running on a segregationist platform.
T-13. Robert La Follette
A Wisconsin progressive, Fightin’ Bob La Follette pushed for reforms such as the direct election of senators and worker protections. And he was a Republican! He was named, in 1959, one of the chamber’s five greatest legislators.
T-13. Charles Sumner
Most famous for being beaten nearly to death on the Senate floor, he was also a man of unflinching principle (to a fault, according to some critics) and a passionate abolitionist.
