Historic BiosThis blog features articles about famous people from history who served in government. These articles highlight the accomplishments of these individuals and explore their impact on the world.
Charlemagne was born in 742, in the city of Aachen, in modern-day Germany. He was the son of Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. His father was the first Carolingian King of the Franks, and his mother was a Frankish noblewoman. Charlemagne was educated by the finest scholars of his day and was an […]
Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856 in Virginia. He was the 28th president of the United States and served two terms in office, from 1913 to 1921. Wilson was a Democrat and a progressive reformer. He is best known for his leadership during World War I and for his advocacy of the League of Nations. […]
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling […]
Franklin D. Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of his wealthy parents, James and Sara Roosevelt. Growing up, he was tutored at home and attended Groton School, a prestigious private school in Massachusetts. Roosevelt entered Harvard University in 1900 and graduated in 1903. He […]
Cleopatra was born in Ptolemaic Egypt in late 69 BC and was raised in Alexandria. She was born into a family with a long and rich history; her father was Ptolemy XII Auletes, a direct descendant of Alexander the Great’s general Ptolemy I Soter, while her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena, a descendant of the […]
James Madison was born on March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia. He was a sickly child and did not receive much formal education. He was tutored at home by his father and later attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He graduated in 1771 and returned to Virginia. Madison married Dolley Payne […]
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. His family had moved there from Italy 14 years earlier. Napoleon was the fourth of eleven children. He had two older sisters, Letizia and Maria Anna (nicknamed “Pauline”). Napoleon’s mother, Letizia, was a strong and determined woman who had […]
Dwight Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas on October 14, 1890, the third of seven children. His parents were of German and Swiss descent. When Eisenhower was two, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, where he grew up and attended school. Eisenhower’s father, David, was a college-educated engineer who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad. […]
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws region between the borders of North and South Carolina. His parents were Scots-Irish immigrants Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson. Jackson’s father died shortly before his birth. Jackson grew up with his mother and two brothers in the backwoods of Carolina. Jackson had little formal education […]
Winston Churchill was born in 1874 to an aristocratic family with a long history of public service. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a prominent politician in the Conservative Party, while his mother, Jennie Jerome, came from an American family of wealth and social prominence. Churchill was educated at the prestigious Harrow School and then […]