Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author, attorney, and diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Australia since 2022. Kennedy previously served in the Obama administration as the United States ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017. She is a member of the Kennedy family as well as the only surviving child of US president John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Ethel Kennedy is an American human rights advocate. She is the widow of U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy, a sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy, and the sixth child of George and Ann (Brannack) Skakel. Shortly after her husband's 1968 assassination, Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a non-profit charity working to reach his goal of a just and peaceful world. In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. She is the oldest living member of the Kennedy Family.
In the United States, public opinion and jurisprudence on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights have developed significantly since the late 1980s. In 1961, beginning with Illinois, states began to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity, and in 2003, through Lawrence v. Texas, all remaining laws against same-sex sexual activity were invalidated. In 2004, beginning with Massachusetts, states began to offer same-sex marriage, and in 2015, through Obergefell v. Hodges, all states were required to offer it. In many states and municipalities, LGBT Americans are explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and access to public accommodations. Many LGBT rights in the United States have been established by the United States Supreme Court, which invalidated state laws banning protected class recognition based upon homosexuality, struck down sodomy laws nationwide, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, and prohibited employment discrimination against gay and transgender employees. LGBT-related anti-discrimination laws regarding housing and private and public services varies by state. Twenty-three states plus Washington, D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and twenty-two states plus Washington, D.C., outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Family law also varies by state. Adoption of children by same-sex married couples is legal nationwide since Obergefell v. Hodges.
The White House social secretary is responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of official social events at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States.
Julianna Smoot is an American political aide and fundraiser for the Democratic Party. She served as a Deputy Manager of Barack Obama's 2012 presidential reelection campaign, having previously served as White House Social Secretary, Deputy Assistant to the President. and Chief of Staff to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Smoot previously served as a professional fundraiser for the Democratic Party. She was the national finance director for Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign. Under her direction, the campaign raised $32.5 million during the second quarter of 2007 and by election day, more money than any campaign in American history. She was named Social Secretary after her predecessor, Desirée Rogers resigned on February 26, 2010.
Francis Julius LeMoyne was a 19th-century American medical doctor and philanthropist from Washington, Pennsylvania. Responsible for creating the first crematory in the United States, he was also an abolitionist, founder of Washington's first public library, co-founder of the Washington Female Seminary, and an instrumental benefactor to the LeMoyne Normal and Commercial School, to which he made a $20,000 donation in 1870.
Anthony Pollina is an American politician who has served as Chair of the Vermont Progressive Party since 2017, and was as a member of the Vermont Senate from 2011 to 2023.
Bill White was the President of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Melissa Hathaway is a leading expert in cyberspace policy and cybersecurity. She served under two U.S. presidential administrations from 2007 to 2009, including more than 8 months at the White House, spearheading the Cyberspace Policy Review for President Barack Obama after leading the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) for President George W. Bush. She is President of Hathaway Global Strategies LLC, a Senior Fellow and member of the Board of Regents at Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Canada, and a non-resident Research Fellow at the Kosciuszko Institute in Poland. She was previously a Senior Adviser at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley is an American diplomat, attorney, political activist and philanthropist who is the United States ambassador to Brazil in the Biden administration. She previously served as the United States ambassador to Portugal from 1994 to 1997.
On April 4, 2011, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president. On September 5, 2012, he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2012 presidential election. Along with his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, Obama was opposed in the general election by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, along with various minor candidates from other parties. The election took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.
Charles Francis Darlington, Jr. was an American diplomat and economist. He was United States Ambassador to Gabon from 1961 to 1964. Darlington was ambassador to Gabon during the 1964 coup d'état. He published books on his experiences in Africa including African Betrayal (1968).
Robert Lee Pitman is an American attorney and jurist who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and former United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was previously a United States Magistrate Judge of the same court.
Donald E. Edwards was an American military officer. He was most notable for his service as adjutant general of the State of Vermont from 1981 to 1997. The adjutant general is the senior uniformed officer in the state and responsible for the organization, training and equipping of nearly 4,000 members of the Vermont Army and Air National Guard. His position as Adjutant General also included appointment as Inspector General and Quartermaster General, and head of the State Military Department, including the Veterans Affairs office.
John Rufus Gifford is an American politician, and diplomat, who served as the chief of protocol of the United States from 2022 to 2023. Between 2013 and 2017, he was the United States Ambassador to Denmark.
Deesha Dyer is an American public servant who served as the White House Social Secretary for U.S. President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017. Dyer also served as Deputy to the previous Social Secretary, Jeremy Bernard. She is currently the CEO of Hook & Fasten, a social-impact consulting company.
Howard Edwin Armstrong was a public official in Vermont who served as Secretary of State for sixteen years.
Ernest Willard Gibson III was an attorney and judge who served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.
Lionel John Monagas was an American actor originally from Caracas, Venezuela. A member of the original Lafayette Players company of Harlem, he appeared in theatrical and film productions.
Carlos Eduardo Elizondo is an American event planner and political aide who is the current White House social secretary since 2021. Elizondo previously served as a special assistant and social secretary for Joe Biden and Jill Biden during the Obama administration.
