# List of Princeton University people (government)
## Politics and government
### Heads of state and government

Four Presidents of the United States have had connections to Princeton. Princeton alumni and former students have served as heads of government in Bangladesh, Belgium, New South Wales (Australia), Peru, Senegal, and South Korea.
| Name | Affiliation | Notability |
| Fakhruddin Ahmed | PhD 1975 | Chief Advisor of the caretaker government (interim prime minister) of Bangladesh, 2007–09. Governor of Bangladesh Bank, 2001–05. |
| Chung Un-chan | PhD 1978 | Prime Minister of South Korea, 2009–10. |
| Grover Cleveland | F 1899–1908, T 1901–08 | 22nd and 24th President of the United States, 1885–89, 1893–97. Governor of New York, 1883–85. |
| John F. Kennedy | Att 1935 | 35th President of the United States, 1961–63. U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1953–60. U.S. Navy officer during World War II. |
| James Madison | B 1771, Princeton's first GS | Fourth President of the United States, 1809–17. Secretary of State, 1801–09. "Father of the U.S. Constitution". |
| Christopher Minns | MPP 2013 | 47th Premier of New South Wales, 2023–. |
| Pedro Pablo Kuczynski | MPA 1961 | 66th President of Peru, 2016–2018. Prime Minister of Peru, 2005–06. Deputy Director-General of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, 1967–69. Minister of Energy and Mines, 1980–82. Minister of Economy and Finance, 2001–02, 2004–05. |
| Syngman Rhee | PhD 1910 | First President of South Korea, 1948–60. |
| Idrissa Seck | Att | Prime Minister of Senegal, 2002–04. |
| Woodrow Wilson | B 1879, Pres 1902–10 | 28th President of the United States, 1913–21. Governor of New Jersey, 1911–13. |
| Paul van Zeeland | PhD 1921 | Prime minister of Belgium, 1936–37. |

### Vice presidents

Three Vice Presidents of the United States and one Vice-President of Kenya have attended Princeton.
| Name | Affiliation | Notability |
| John C. Breckinridge | Att | Vice President of the United States, 1857–61. U.S. Senator from Kentucky, 1861. Confederate States Secretary of War, 1865. |
| Aaron Burr | B 1772 | Vice President of the United States, 1801–05. U.S. Senator from New York, 1791–97. |
| George M. Dallas | B 1810 | Vice President of the United States, 1845–49. U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1831–33. Ambassador to Russia, 1837–39. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1856–61. |
| Josephat Karanja | PhD 1962 | Vice-President of Kenya, 1988–89. |

### Cabinet members and senior ministers

This lists Cabinet members and other senior ministers to national governments. Most associated with Princeton have been members of the Cabinet of the United States, but Princetonians have also served in the Cabinets of Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Mexico, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey. John C. Breckinridge served in the Cabinet of the Confederate States of America, the nation proclaimed by the rebelling Southern states during the American Civil War.
| Name | Affiliation | Notability |
| John Armstrong Jr. | Att | U.S. Secretary of War, 1813–14. U.S. Senator from New York, 1800–02, 1804. Minister to France, 1804–10. Minister to Spain, 1806. |
| Lloyd Axworthy | AM 1963, PhD 1972 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, 1996–2000. |
| Jean-Claude Bajeux | PhD 1977 | Minister of Culture of Haiti, 1994–95. |
| James Baker | B 1952 | White House Chief of Staff, 1981–85, 1992–93. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1985–88. Secretary of State, 1989–92. |
| William Belknap | B 1848 | U.S. Secretary of War, 1869–76. |
| Ben Bernanke | F 1985–2002 | Chair of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors, 2005–06. Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 2006–. Member of the Federal Reserve Board, 2002–05. |
| John Macpherson Berrien | B 1781 | U.S. Attorney General, 1829–31. U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1825–29, 1841–45, 1845–52. |
| George Bibb | B 1792 | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1844–45. |
| W. Michael Blumenthal | MPA, AM, PhD, F 1954–57, T | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1977–79. |
| Joshua Bolten | B 1976, F 2009– | U.S. Office of Management and Budget director, 2003–06. White House Chief of Staff, 2006–09. |
| William Bradford | B 1772, AM 1775 | U.S. Attorney General, 1794–95. |
| John C. Breckinridge | Att | Confederate States Secretary of War, 1865. Vice President of the United States, 1857–61. U.S. Senator from Kentucky, 1861. |
| Benjamin H. Brewster | B 1834 | U.S. Attorney General, 1881–85. |
| Manuel Camacho Solís | MPA 1972 | Secretary of Urban Development and Ecology of Mexico, 1986–88. Mayor of Mexico City, 1988–93. |
| J. Donald Cameron | B 1852 | U.S. Secretary of War, 1876–77. U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1877–97. Chairman of the Republican National Committee, 1880. |
| George W. Campbell | B 1794 | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1814. U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1811–14, 1815–18. Minister to Russia, 1818–21. |
| Frank Carlucci | B 1952 | U.S. National Security Advisor, 1986–87. Secretary of Defense, 1987–89. |
| Jorge Castañeda Gutman | B 1973 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, 2000–03. |
| Chen Pi-Chao | PhD 1966 | Vice-Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan), 2000–02. |
| George W. Crawford | B 1820 | U.S. Secretary of War, 1849–50. Governor of Georgia, 1843–47. |
| Mitch Daniels | B 1971 | U.S. Office of Management and Budget director, 2001–03. Governor of Indiana, 2005–13. |
| Kemal Derviş | PhD 1973, F 1973–78 | Finance minister of Turkey, 2001–02. Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, 2005–09. |
| Mahlon Dickerson | B 1789 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1834–38. Governor of New Jersey, 1815–17. U.S. Senator from New Jersey, 1817–33. |
| John Foster Dulles | B 1908 | U.S. Secretary of State, 1953–59. U.S. Senator from New York, 1949. |
| Wim van Eekelen | B 1952 | Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, 1986–88. |
| Horst Ehmke | Att | Minister of Justice of West Germany, 1969. |
| James Forrestal | Att | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1944–47. First Secretary of Defense, 1947–49. |
| John Forsyth | B 1799 | U.S. Secretary of State, 1834–41. U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1818–19, 1829–34. Governor of Georgia, 1827–29. |
| Jim Flaherty | B 1970 | Minister of Finance of Canada, 2006–2014. |
| Thomas F. Gibson | B 1977 | Associate director of White House Cabinet Affairs, 1983–1985. Director of White House Public Affairs, 1985–1987. |
| Talât Sait Halman | F 1966–71, 1972–80 | First Minister of Culture of Turkey, 1971. |
| Pete Hegseth | BA 2003 | United States Secretary of Defense, 2025–. |
| Richard Holbrooke | MCF 1970 | U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1999–2001. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2009–10. |
| Lisa P. Jackson | MSE 1986 | Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2009–. |
| Louka Katseli | MPA 1974, PhD 1978 | Minister for the Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping of Greece, 2009–10. Minister for Labour and Social Security, 2010–11. |
| Nicholas Katzenbach | B 1945 | U.S. Attorney General, 1965–66. |
| Alan Krueger | F 1987– 2019 | Chair of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, 2011–2013. |
| Pedro Pablo Kuczynski | MPA 1971 | Minister of Energy and Mines, 1980–82. Minister of Economy and Finance, 2001–02, 2004–05. Prime Minister of Peru, 2005–06. Deputy Director-General of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, 1967–69. |
| Larry Kudlow | Att | 12th Director of the National Economic Council, 2018–. |
| Anthony Lake | PhD 1974 | U.S. National Security Advisor, 1993–97. |
| Charles Lee | B 1775 | U.S. Attorney General, 1795–1801. |
| Edward Livingston | B 1781 | U.S. Secretary of State, 1831–33. Mayor of New York City, 1801–03. U.S. Senator from Louisiana, 1829–31. Ambassador to France, 1833–35. |
| James Madison | B 1771, Princeton's first GS | U.S. Secretary of State, 1801–09. President of the United States, 1809–17. "Father of the U.S. Constitution". |
| N. Gregory Mankiw | B 1980 | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 2003–05. |
| John Nelson | AM 1825 | U.S. Attorney General, 1843–45. |
| Peter Orszag | B 1991 | U.S. Office of Management and Budget director, 2009–10. Congressional Budget Office director, 2007–08. |
| Frank Pace | B 1933 | U.S. Bureau of the Budget director, 1949–50. Secretary of the Army, 1950–53. |
| Juan Carlos Pinzón | MPP 2010 | Minister of National Defence of Colombia, 2011–. |
| James M. Porter | Att | U.S. Secretary of War, 1843–44. |
| George M. Robeson | B 1847 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1869–77. |
| Christina Romer | F 1985–88 | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 2009–10. |
| Harvey Rosen | F 1974– | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 2005. |
| William Ruckelshaus | B 1957 | Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1970–73, 1983–85. |
| Donald Rumsfeld | B 1954 | White House Chief of Staff, 1974–75. Secretary of Defense, 1975–77, 2001–06. U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1973–74. |
| Richard Rush | B 1797 | U.S. Attorney General, 1814–17. Secretary of the Treasury, 1825–29. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1817–25. Ambassador to France, 1847–49. |
| Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz | B 1964 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, 1975–. |
| Nathan Shamuyarira | B 1967 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe, 1987–1995. |
| George Shultz | B 1942 | U.S. Secretary of Labor, 1969–70. Office of Management and Budget director, 1970–72. Secretary of the Treasury, 1972–74. Secretary of State, 1982–89. |
| James Sinclair | GS | Minister of Fisheries of Canada, 1952–57. |
| Robert Smith | B 1781 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1801–09. Secretary of State, 1809–11. |
| Samuel Southard | B 1804 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1823–29. Interim Secretary of the Treasury, 1825. Interim Secretary of War, 1828. U.S. Senator from New Jersey, 1821–23, 1833–42. Governor of New Jersey, 1832–33. |
| Bruno Stagno Ugarte | MPP 2001 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, 2006–10. Ambassador to the United Nations, 2002–06. |
| Joseph Stiglitz | F 1979–88 | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 1995–97. World Bank Chief Economist, 1997–2000. Nobel Prize in Economics, 2001. |
| Makhenkesi Stofile | AM 1983 | Minister of Sport and Recreation of South Africa, 2004–10. |
| Smith Thompson | B 1788 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1818–23. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1823–43. |
| Russell Train | B 1941 | Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1973–77. |
| Alexander Trowbridge | B 1951 | U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1967–68. |
| Laura Tyson | F 1974–77 | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 1993–95. Dean of Haas School of Business, 1998–2001. Dean of London Business School, 2002–06. |
| Abel P. Upshur | Att | U.S. Secretary of the Navy, 1841–43. Secretary of State, 1843–44. |
| Murray Weidenbaum | PhD 1958 | Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, 1981–82. |
| Charles Yost | BA 1928 | U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1969–1971. U.S. Ambassador to Laos and Syria and Morocco. |

### Central bankers

This is a list of people associated with Princeton who have held senior positions within central banks. Several Princetonians have held senior positions within the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States; two (Ben Bernanke and Paul Volcker) have served as Chairman. Another, Nicholas Biddle, served as President of the Second Bank of the United States. Several have served in non-U.S. central banks, as well.
| Name | Affiliation | Notability |
| Fakhruddin Ahmed | PhD 1975 | Governor of Bangladesh Bank, 2001–05. Chief Advisor of the caretaker government (interim prime minister) of Bangladesh, 2007–09. |
| Ben Bernanke | F 1985–2002 | Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 2006–2014. Member of the Federal Reserve Board, 2002–05. Chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisors, 2005–06. |
| Nicholas Biddle | B 1801 | President of the Second Bank of the United States, 1822–39. |
| Alan Blinder | B 1967, F 1971– | Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, 1994–96. |
| David Dodge | PhD 1972 | Governor of the Bank of Canada, 2001–08. |
| W. Braddock Hickman | F | President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1963–70. |
| Paul Jenkins | GS 1982–83 | Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, 2003–10. |
| Narayana Kocherlakota | B 1983 | President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2009–2015. |
| Pedro Pablo Kuczynski | MPA 1961 | Deputy Director-General of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, 1967–69. Minister of Energy and Mines, 1980–82. Minister of Economy and Finance, 2001–02, 2004–05. Prime Minister of Peru, 2005–06. 66th President of Peru, 2016–2018. |
| Loretta Mester | PhD 1985 | President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 2014–. |
| Rakesh Mohan | AM 1974, PhD 1977 | Deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, 2002–04, 2005–06. |
| Jerome Powell | B 1975 | Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 2018–. Member of the Federal Reserve Board, 2012–. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, 1992–1993. |
| Frederick H. Schultz | B 1952 | Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, 1979–82. |
| Jeremy Stein | B 1983 | Member of the Federal Reserve Board, 2012–2014. |
| Lars E. O. Svensson | F 2001–09 | Deputy Governor of the Riksbank (Bank of Sweden), 2007–. |
| Paul Volcker | B 1949, F 1974–75 | Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 1979–87. Vice Chairman, 1975–79. |
| Zhu Min | MPA 1988 | Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, 2009–10. International Monetary Fund: Special Advisor to the Managing Director, 2010–11. Deputy Managing Director, 2011–. |

### State and provincial governors

The Governor of New Jersey is an ex officio Trustee of the University. Only Governors with another connection to Princeton are included in this list. Princetonians have served as governors of 23 of the 50 U.S. states.
In the "Notes" column, Governors of U.S. states who also served in Congress represented the same states they governed unless otherwise specified.
| Name | Affiliation | State/Province | Service | Notes |
| Nathaniel Alexander | B 1776 | North Carolina | 1805–07 | U.S. Representative, 1803–05. |
| Joseph Alston | Att 1795–96 | South Carolina | 1812–14 | |
| Samuel Ashe | Att | North Carolina | 1795–98 | |
| Dewey F. Bartlett | B 1942 | Oklahoma | 1967–71 | U.S. Senator, 1973–79. |
| Joseph Bloomfield | T 1793–1801, 1819–23 | New Jersey | 1801–12 | U.S. Representative, 1817–21. |
| Willie Blount | Att | Tennessee | 1809–15 | |
| Kit Bond | B 1960 | Missouri | 1973–77, 1981–85 | U.S. Senator, 1987–2011. |
| Gerard Brandon | Att | Mississippi | 1825–26, 1826–32 | |
| Brendan Byrne | B 1949 | New Jersey | 1974–82 | |
| William Cahill | F 1974–78 | New Jersey | 1970–74 | U.S. Representative, 1959–70. |
| Alfred Colquitt | B 1844 | Georgia | 1876–80 | U.S. Representative, 1853–55. Confederate major general in the Civil War. U.S. Senator, 1883–94. |
| Prentice Cooper | B 1917 | Tennessee | 1939–45 | |
| George W. Crawford | B 1820 | Georgia | 1843–47 | U.S. Secretary of War, 1849–50. |
| Mitch Daniels | B 1971 | Indiana | 2005–13 | Office of Management and Budget director, 2001–03. |
| William Richardson Davie | B 1776 | North Carolina | 1798–99 | |
| Mahlon Dickerson | B 1789 | New Jersey | 1815–17 | U.S. Senator, 1817–33. Secretary of the Navy, 1834–38. |
| John Drayton | Att | South Carolina | 1800–02, 1808–10 | |
| James H. Duff | B 1904 | Pennsylvania | 1947–51 | U.S. Senator, 1951–57. |
| Pierre S. du Pont IV | B 1956 | Delaware | 1977–85 | U.S. Representative, 1971–77. |
| Peter Early | B 1792 | Georgia | 1813–15 | U.S. Representative, 1803–07. |
| Henry W. Edwards | B 1797 | Connecticut | 1833–34, 1835–38 | U.S. Representative, 1819–23. U.S. Senator, 1823–27. |
| Bob Ehrlich | B 1979 | Maryland | 2003–07 | U.S. Representative, 1995–2003. |
| John Forsyth | B 1799 | Georgia | 1827–29 | U.S. Representative, 1813–18. U.S. Senator, 1818–19, 1829–34. Secretary of State, 1834–41. |
| Daniel Fowle | B 1851 | North Carolina | 1889–91 | |
| William B. Giles | B 1781 | Virginia | 1827–30 | U.S. Representative, 1790–98, 1801–03. U.S. Senator, 1804–15. |
| Robert Stockton Green | B 1850 | New Jersey | 1887–89 | U.S. Representative, 1885–87. |
| Daniel Haines | B 1820 | New Jersey | 1844–45, 1848–51 | |
| Thomas Henderson | B 1761 | New Jersey | 1793 or 1794 | |
| John Henry | B 1769 | Maryland | 1797–98 | U.S. Senator, 1789–97. |
| James Iredell | B 1806 | North Carolina | 1828 | U.S. Senator, 1828–31. |
| Thomas Kean | B 1957 | New Jersey | 1982–90 | Chair of the 9/11 Commission. |
| Blair Lee III | B 1938 | Maryland | 1977–79 | Acting Governor during Marvin Mandel's term. |
| Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III | B 1773, AM 1776 | Virginia | 1792–95 | American Revolutionary War cavalry officer. |
| Morgan Lewis | B 1773 | New York | 1804–07 | |
| John L. Manning | Att | South Carolina | 1852–54 | |
| Alexander Martin | B 1756 | North Carolina | 1781–84, 1789–92 | Acting Governor, 1781–82. U.S. Senator, 1793–99. |
| James G. Martin | PhD 1960 | North Carolina | 1985–93 | |
| James McDowell | B 1817 | Virginia | 1843–46 | U.S. Representative, 1846–51. |
| Patrick Noble | B 1806 | South Carolina | 1838–40 | |
| Aaron Ogden | B 1773, T 1803–39 | New Jersey | 1812 | U.S. Senator, 1802–03. |
| Joel Parker | B 1839 | New Jersey | 1863–66, 1872–75 | |
| William Paterson | B 1763 | New Jersey | 1791–93 | U.S. Senator, 1789–90. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1793–1806. |
| William Pennington | B 1813 | New Jersey | 1837–43 | U.S. Representative, 1859–61. Speaker, 1859–61. |
| Andrew Pickens | Att | South Carolina | 1816–18 | |
| Jared Polis | B 1996 | Colorado | 2019– | U.S. Rep, 2009–2019 |
| James Pollock | B 1831 | Pennsylvania | 1855–58 | U.S. Representative, 1844–49. |
| Thomas Pratt | Att | Maryland | 1845–48 | U.S. Senator, 1850–55, 1855–57. |
| Rodman Price | Att | New Jersey | 1854–57 | U.S. Representative, 1851–53. |
| Thomas Riggs Jr. | B 1894 | Alaska | 1918–21 | |
| John Rutherfoord | B 1810 | Virginia | 1841–42 | |
| Whitemarsh Seabrook | B 1812 | South Carolina | 1848–50 | |
| Samuel Southard | B 1804 | New Jersey | 1832–33 | U.S. Senator, 1821–23, 1833–42. Secretary of the Navy, 1823–29. |
| Eliot Spitzer | B 1981 | New York | 2007–08 | |
| Samuel Sprigg | B 1806 | Maryland | 1819–22 | |
| Ingram Stainback | B 1907 | Hawaii | 1942–51 | |
| Adlai Stevenson II | B 1922 | Illinois | 1949–52 | Democratic candidate for President of the United States, 1952, 1956, 1960. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961–65. |
| David Stone | B 1788 | North Carolina | 1808–10 | U.S. Representative, 1799–1801. U.S. Senator, 1801–07, 1813–14. |
| Bob Taft | MPA 1967 | Ohio | 1999–2007 | |
| John Taylor | B 1790 | South Carolina | 1826–28 | U.S. Representative, 1807–10. U.S. Senator, 1810–16. |
| Isaac Tichenor | B 1775 | Vermont | 1797–1807, 1808–09 | U.S. Senator, 1796–97, 1815–21. |
| George Troup | B 1797 | Georgia | 1823–27 | U.S. Representative, 1807–15. U.S. Senator, 1816–18, 1829–33. |
| William Henry Vanderbilt III | Att | Rhode Island | 1939–41 | |
| George White | B 1895 | Ohio | 1931–35 | U.S. Representative, 1911–15, 1917–19. Chair of the Democratic National Committee, 1920–21. |
| G. Mennen Williams | B 1933 | Michigan | 1949–61 | U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, 1968–69. |
| Woodrow Wilson | B 1879, Pres 1902–10 | New Jersey | 1911–13 | President of the United States, 1913–21. |
| John Gilbert Winant | Att, AM 1925 | New Hampshire | 1925–27, 1931–35 | First chairman of the Social Security Board, 1935–37. U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 1941–46. |

### Other

This section lists people not listed in prior sections. It includes members of legislatures other than the U.S. Congress, judges and other legal officials, diplomats, sub-Cabinet officials, activists, royalty, and other figures in politics and government.
| Name | Affiliation | Notability |
| Munib Akhtar | B 1986 | Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, 2018–. |
| Ralph A. Bard | B 1906 | U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1941–44. Under Secretary of the Navy, 1944–45. |
| Della au Belatti | B 1996 | Majority Leader of the Hawaii House of Representatives, 2017–. Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, 2007–. |
| Walden Bello | PhD 1975 | Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, 2007–. |
| James G. Birney | B 1810 | Publisher of The Philanthropist. Liberty Party candidate for President of the United States, 1840, 1844. |
| Bill Botzow | B 1968 | Member of Vermont House of Representatives, 2002–. |
| Matthew Boxer | B 1992 | First New Jersey State Comptroller, 2008–2013. |
| Cabell Breckinridge | B 1810 | Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1817–1819). Kentucky Secretary of State (1820–1823). Member of the Breckinridge family; married Mary Clay Smith, daughter of Princeton President Samuel Stanhope Smith. |
| Rudi Brewster | B 1954 | United States district judge, 1984–2012. |
| William Marshall Bullitt | B 1894 | Solicitor General of the United States, 1912–13. |
| Jacob Candelaria | B 2009 | Member of the New Mexico State Senate, 2013–. |
| Harvey Locke Carey | GS 1943 | United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, 1950–1952. |
| William Colby | B 1940 | U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, 1973–76. |
| Herb Conaway | B 1985 | Member of the New Jersey General Assembly, 1998–. |
| Robert Cooper | B 1979 | 26th Attorney General of Tennessee, 2006–2014. |
| Ryan Crocker | MCF 1985 | U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, 1990. Kuwait, 1994–97. Syria, 1998–2001. Pakistan, 2004–07. Iraq, 2007–09. Afghanistan, 2011–. |
| Ted Cruz | B 1992 | Solicitor general of Texas, 2003–08. U.S. Senator since 2013. |
| William Lewis Dayton Jr. | B 1858 | United States Ambassador to the Netherlands. |
| Shelby Collum Davis | B 1930 | United States Ambassador to Switzerland, 1969–1975. |
| David A. Depue | B 1846 | Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. |
| John Doar | B 1944 | Lead prosecutor in the "Mississippi Burning" trial. |
| Kari Dolan | B 1983 | Member of the Vermont House of Representatives, 2019–. |
| Allen Dulles | B 1914, AM 1916 | U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, 1953–61. |
| John Edwards | B 1966 | Member of the Virginia State Senate, 1996–. United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, 1980–1981. |
| Manny Espitia | B 2011 | Member of the New Hampshire State Senate, 2018–. |
| Andrew Fleischmann | B 1986 | Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, 1995–. |
| Vince Fong | MPA 2003 | Member of the California State Assembly, 2016–. |
| Steve Forbes | B 1970 | Publishing executive and Republican candidate for President of the United States in 1996 and 2000. |
| L. Scott Frantz | B 1982 | Member of the Connecticut State Senate, 2009–2018. |
| Charles Fried | B 1956 | Solicitor General of the United States, 1985–89. |
| Richard Funkhouser | B 1939 | U.S. Ambassador to Gabon, 1969–70. |
| Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad | B 1988 | Prince of Jordan. |
| Robert Goheen | B 1940, AM 1947, PhD 1948, F 1948–72, Pres 1957–72 | U.S. Ambassador to India, 1977–80. |
| Caitlin Halligan | B 1988 | Solicitor general of New York, 2001–07. |
| Maria Horn | B 1986 | Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, 2019–. |
| Brian Hoven | B 1963 | Member of the Montana State Senate, 2015–. Member of the Montana House of Representatives, 2009–2015. |
| Christopher Hughes | B 1805 | Chargé d'affaires in Sweden and The Netherlands in the 1820s and 1830s. |
| Ted Hsu | PhD 1989 | Member of the House of Commons of Canada for Kingston and the Islands, 2011–. |
| Eric Johnson | MPA 2003 | Member of the Texas House of Representatives, 2010–. |
| Brian Kavanagh | B 1989 | Member of the New York State Senate, 2017–. Member of the New York State Assembly, 2007–2017. |
| George F. Kennan | B 1925 | Cold War diplomat and architect of the United States's "containment" strategy. |
| A.B. Krongard | B 1958 | Executive director of the CIA, 2001–04. |
| W. Thacher Longstreth | B 1941 | Philadelphia City Councilman, 1969–71, 1983–2003. |
| Donold Lourie | B 1922 | U.S. Under Secretary of State for Administration, 1953–54. |
| Sara Love | B 1989 | Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, 2018–. |
| Chris Lu | B 1988 | Cabinet Secretary to U.S. President Barack Obama, 2009–13. United States Deputy Secretary of Labor 2014–2017. |
| Donald Lu | B 1988, MPA 1991 | U.S. Ambassador to Albania, 2015–. |
| John Mackintosh | Att | Member of the UK House of Commons, 1966–74, 1974–78. |
| Lorna Marsden | PhD 1972 | Member of the Senate of Canada representing Ontario, 1984–92. |
| Rachel May | B 1978 | Member of the New York State Senate, 2019–. |
| Robert Mueller | B 1966 | Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, 2017–. Director of the F.B.I., 2001–2013. |
| Ralph Nader | B 1955 | U.S. presidential candidate, consumer advocate, political activist. |
| Queen Noor of Jordan | B 1974 | Queen consort of Jordan, 1978–99. Queen dowager of Jordan, 1999–. |
| Michelle Obama | B 1985 | First Lady of the United States, 2009–2017. |
| Paul Offner | MPA 1966, PhD 1970 | Wisconsin State Senator, 1977–84. District of Columbia Commissioner of Health Care Finance, 1995–99. |
| Richard Perle | AM 1967 | Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, 2001–03. |
| David Petraeus | MPA 1985, PhD 1987 | Head of U.S. forces in Iraq, 2007–08. Commander of USCENTCOM, 2008–10. Commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, 2010–11. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 2011–. |
| David Pringle | B 1988 | Environmental activist, Chief strategist for New Jersey's chapter of Clean Water Action, 1997–present. Congressional candidate for New Jersey's 7th congressional district, 2018. |
| Herman Quirmbach | PhD 1983 | Member of the Iowa State Senate, 2003–. |
| Stuart Rabner | B 1982 | New Jersey Attorney General, 2006–07. Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, 2007–. |
| Doug Racine | B 1974 | 78th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 1997–2003. Member of the Vermont State Senate, 1983–1993. |
| Bruce Reed | B 1982 | Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States, 2011–2013. |
| Albert Rees | former Provost | Advisor to President Gerald Ford. |
| Richard Riordan | B 1952 | Mayor of Los Angeles, 1993–2001. |
| James N. Robertson | B 1935 | Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1949–1952. |
| Anthony Romero | B 1987 | Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, 2001–. |
| Patrick Rose | B 2001 | Member of the Texas House of Representatives, 2003–2011. |
| Stapleton Roy | B 1956 | U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, 1984–86. China, 1991–95. Indonesia, 1996–99. |
| Andrew Schlafly | B 1981 | American conservative lawyer and activist. Founder of Conservapedia. |
| Deb Schulte | B 1982 | Member of House of Commons of Canada for King-Vaughan, 2015–. |
| Dan Schwartz | B 1972 | 21st Treasurer of Nevada, 2015–. |
| Sean Shaw | B 2000 | Member of the Florida House of Representatives, 2016–. |
| Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff | B 1985 | Treasurer of New Jersey, 2010–2015. |
| Anne-Marie Slaughter | B 1980; F 2002–09, 2011– | Dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 2002–09. Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department, 2009–11. |
| Henry DeWolf Smyth | B 1918, AM 1920, PhD 1921, F 1924–66 | Author of the Smyth Report. Member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1949–54. U.S. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 1961–70. |
| Ronald Spiers | MPA 1950 | U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, 1977–80. U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, 1982–83. Under Secretary of State for Management, 1983–89. |
| Heather Steans | B 1985 | Member of the Illinois Senate, 2008–. |
| Dana Stein | MPA 1985 | Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, 2002–2003, 2007–. |
| Andrew Steinberg | B 1980 | U.S. Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs, 2006–08. Chief Counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration, 2003–06. |
| Phillip Swagel | B 1987 | U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, 2006–09. |
| Jimmy Tarlau | B 1970 | Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, 2015–. |
| Norman Thomas | B 1905 | American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate. |
| Mary Throne | B 1982 | Minority Leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives, 2013–2017. Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, 2007–2017. |
| Micah Townshend | B 1766, MA 1769 | Secretary of State of Vermont. |
| Trevor Traina | B 1990 | U.S. Ambassador to Austria, 2018–. |
| Sharon Treat | B 1978 | Majority Leader of the Maine State Senate, 2002–2004. Member of the Maine State Senate, 1996–2004. Member of the Maine House of Representatives, 1990–1996, 2006–2014. |
| David Trefgarne | Att | Member of the British House of Lords, 1962–. Held a number of posts in the Thatcher ministry. |
| Charles Trump IV | B 1982 | Member of the West Virginia State Senate, 2014–. Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, 1992–2006. |
| Suzi Wizowaty | B 1977 | Member of the Vermont House of Representatives, 2009–2015. |
| Josephine Chu | B 1990 | Member of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China, 1996–2002. |