This list of people associated with Princeton University includes graduates who have served in the national government of the United States.
The United States Senate is the upper house of Congress. Princetonians have a long history of service in the Senate. The Senate of the First Congress included three Princeton alumni (Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, [1] William Paterson of New Jersey, [2] and John Henry of Maryland [3] ), two more who attended Princeton but did not graduate (John Brown of Virginia, later Kentucky, and Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina), and one Princeton Trustee (Jonathan Elmer of New Jersey). Alexander Leitch wrote in 1978 of the Senate, "Since its establishment in 1789 it has been without a Princetonian only twenty years." [4] This is still the case: Claiborne Pell served 1961–97, [5] Kit Bond served 1987–2011, [6] [7] Jeff Merkley has served since 2009, and Ted Cruz has served since 2013. If Cruz completes his current term, he will represent Princeton in the Senate through 2025. Princetonians have represented 26 of the 50 U.S. states in the Senate.
John Brown served in the Senate first from Virginia and then from Kentucky after its admission as a state. [8] He is listed twice for convenience of sorting by state.
The House of Representatives is the lower house of Congress. Princetonians have a long history of service in the House. Alexander Leitch noted in 1978 that the House "has not been without a Princeton alumnus in its membership in any year since it first met in 1789." [69] As of 2015, this remains the case.
Princetonians have served 24 of the 50 U.S. states in the House. Two served as nonvoting delegates from Arkansas Territory and Michigan Territory before these territories became states.
The Supreme Court of the United States is the nation's highest court. Of the 112 justices to have served on the Supreme Court, [302] 12 have been Princetonians. Three current justices are Princeton graduates. Oliver Ellsworth was the second Chief Justice of the United States; all others listed here were or are Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Name | Affiliation | Service | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Samuel Alito | B 1972 | 2006– | [303] | |
Peter V. Daniel | Att 1802–03 | 1842–60 | [304] | |
Oliver Ellsworth | B 1766 | 1796–1800 | U.S. Senator from Connecticut, 1789–96. Minister to France, 1799–1800. | [1] |
John Marshall Harlan | B 1920 | 1955–71 | [305] | |
William Johnson | B 1790 | 1804–34 | [306] | |
Elena Kagan | B 1981 | 2010– | Dean of Harvard Law School, 2003–09. Solicitor General of the United States, 2009–10. | [307] |
Henry Brockholst Livingston | B 1774 | 1807–23 | [308] | |
William Paterson | B 1763 | 1793–1806 | U.S. Senator from New Jersey, 1789–90. Governor of New Jersey, 1791–93. | [2] |
Mahlon Pitney | B 1879 | 1912–22 | U.S. Representative from New Jersey, 1895–99. | [246] |
Sonia Sotomayor | B 1976, T 2007–11 | 2009– | [309] [310] [311] | |
Smith Thompson | B 1788 | 1823–43 | Secretary of the Navy, 1818–23. | [312] |
James Moore Wayne | B 1808 | 1835–67 | [289] |
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 to plan the colonies' response to the punitive Intolerable Acts passed by the British Parliament earlier that year. When the Congress's appeal to the British government failed, the Second Continental Congress convened, again in Philadelphia. Meeting 1775–81, it issued the Declaration of Independence and was the provisional government of the United States during the Revolutionary War. It reorganized in 1781 following the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, under which it was known formally as the Congress of the Confederation. Between 1781 and 1789, this body met in several locations, including in Nassau Hall on the Princeton campus for about four months in 1783. It disbanded in 1789 following the ratification of the Constitution. [313] [314]
Princetonians represented each of the 13 states except Massachusetts in the Continental Congress. Four of them signed the Declaration of Independence; they are indicated by asterisks (*). Among them was John Witherspoon, a delegate from New Jersey and then the President of Princeton. Trained as a Presbyterian minister, Witherspoon was the only clergyman in the Continental Congress and served often as the body's chaplain. [315] His experience on representative bodies in the ministry prepared him to be especially effective and influential in Congress, [316] where he is said to have served on more committees than any other member. [315]
The impotence of the national government under the Articles of Confederation prompted the Constitutional Convention, which met in Philadelphia between 25 May and 17 September 1787. This assembly wrote the Constitution of the United States, which came into effect in 1789 after nine states had ratified it. [350]
Princetonians represented six of the 12 states that sent delegations to the convention. (Rhode Island declined to send a delegation.) Ten of the 56 delegates were Princetonians, including four of the five delegates from New Jersey. This compares with five delegates each from the College of William & Mary and Yale College, three each from Harvard College and Columbia College, two from the University of Pennsylvania, and one each from the University of Oxford and the University of Glasgow. [351]
James Madison was the first delegate to arrive at the convention and was so influential there that he came to be known as the "Father of the Constitution". He also argued for the Constitution's ratification in The Federalist Papers , written together with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. As a Representative in the 1st United States Congress, he introduced the Bill of Rights, which became the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. [350] [352]
William Paterson and Oliver Ellsworth were also influential at the convention. In response to Madison's Virginia Plan, under which states would be represented in Congress in proportion to their population and taxes paid, Paterson authored the New Jersey Plan, which called for equal representation for each state. Together with his Connecticut colleague Roger Sherman, Ellsworth crafted the Connecticut Compromise, also called the Great Compromise, which blended the two plans. This plan, which specified a bicameral legislature with one house apportioned by population and the other in which the states would be represented equally, became the basis for the House of Representatives and Senate in the final Constitution. [350]
Signers of the Constitution are indicated with asterisks (*).
Name | Affiliation | State | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gunning Bedford * | B 1771 | Delaware | [317] | |
David Brearley * | Att | New Jersey | [353] | |
William Richardson Davie | B 1776 | North Carolina | Governor, 1798–99. | [354] |
Jonathan Dayton * | B 1776 | New Jersey | U.S. Representative, 1791–99; Speaker, 1795–99. U.S. Senator, 1799–1805. | [355] |
Oliver Ellsworth | B 1766 | Connecticut | U.S. Senator, 1789–96. Chief Justice of the United States, 1796–1800. Minister to France, 1799–1800. | [1] |
William Houston | B 1768, F 1769–83 | New Jersey | [324] [325] | |
James Madison * | B 1771, Princeton's first GS | Virginia | Secretary of State, 1801–09. President of the United States, 1809–17. | [330] [331] |
Alexander Martin | B 1756 | North Carolina | Acting Governor, 1781–82. Governor, 1782–84, 1789–92. U.S. Senator, 1793–99. | [70] [356] |
Luther Martin | B 1766 | Maryland | [357] | |
William Paterson * | B 1763 | New Jersey | U.S. Senator, 1789–90. Governor, 1791–93. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 1793–1806. | [2] |
The Founding Fathers of the United States, commonly referred to as the Founding Fathers, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation.
William Pierce Jr. was a Founding Father of the United States, military officer during the Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, merchant, and planter and slave owner. As a delegate representing Georgia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he left before he could sign the U.S. Constitution.
Evan Shelby Alexander was a slave owner, lawyer, legislator from the Salisbury District of North Carolina, and United States Democratic-Republican Party Congressman from North Carolina between 1806 and 1809.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, from the prominent Van Rensselaer family, was the lieutenant governor of New York and a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York in the 1st United States Congress.
John Lowell was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, a judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture under the Articles of Confederation, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit.
The 18th Infantry Regiment ("Vanguards") is an Army Infantry regiment. The 18th Infantry Regiment currently exists with one active battalion under the U.S. Army Regimental System and has no regimental headquarters.
Evergreen Cemetery and Crematory is a cemetery and crematorium located at 1137 North Broad Street, Hillside, Union County, New Jersey. Parts of it are in Hillside, Elizabeth, and Newark.
James Linn was an American lawyer, politician and Revolutionary War veteran who served as a United States representative from New Jersey, serving one term from 1799 to 1801.
John Mercer Patton was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Virginia. Patton served in the United States House of Representatives representing two different Virginia Districts and was the acting governor of Virginia for twelve days in 1841.
James Herbert Gholson was a nineteenth-century congressman, planter, lawyer and judge from Virginia.
James Whitney Wilkin was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Combat Logistics Regiment 27 is a logistics regiment based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group and the II Marine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Corps.
The Committee on Pensions was a standing committee of the United States Senate from 1816 to 1946, when the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 abolished it, moving its functions to the Committee on Finance.
Dr. Frist was the 2007–2008 Frederick H. Schultz Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Completing their terms as trustees on June 30 are... Sonia Sotomayor....