Curated playlist
20th-century United States representatives
- John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy spent hours in the water towing a burned crewman after a destroyer cut his boat in half.
- George H. W. BushAfter being shot down in 1944, George H. W. Bush asked why he alone had been spared. Both of his crewmates died.
- Richard NixonRichard Nixon was the only U.S. president to resign. He left office on the 9th of August, 1974, over Watergate.
- Gerald FordGerald Ford is the only person in American history to serve as president without ever winning a national election for president or vice president. He held the office from 1974 to 1977. Both of the jobs that carried him there came to him by…
- Ron PaulRon Paul delivered the Tejano singer Selena as a baby. He was a Texas obstetrician before he ran for president.
- Chuck SchumerBob Dole once joked that the most dangerous place in Washington was between Charles Schumer and a television camera. Schumer, a Democrat from Brooklyn, has been a United States senator from New York since 1999. Along the way he has led his…
- Nancy PelosiOn the 4th of January 2007, Nancy Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio by 233 votes to 202 in the election for speaker of the House. Standing in the chamber afterward, she declared, "today, we have broken the marble ceiling."…
- Al GoreAl Gore won the 2000 popular vote but lost the presidency by 537 Florida votes.
- Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson took the presidential oath from a woman, a first for any American president.
- Bernie SandersBernie Sanders delivered a speech in the United States Senate on the 10th of December 2010 that lasted 8 hours and 34 minutes. His target was a tax bill that would extend the Bush-era rates, which he argued favored the wealthiest…
- Jack SwigertJack Swigert won a seat in Congress but died seven days before he could take it. The Apollo 13 astronaut was 51.
- Dick CheneyDick Cheney, born Richard Bruce Cheney, held the full powers of the American presidency on the morning of the 29th of June 2002. From 7:09 a.m. to 9:24 a.m., he served as acting president under the 25th Amendment while George W. Bush…
- James F. ByrnesJames F. Byrnes left school at 14 and later sat on the U.S. Supreme Court. He never earned a law degree.
- Larry McDonaldCongressman Larry McDonald died on a plane that three colleagues were meant to share.