20th-century American non-fiction writers

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 as the wife of Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the only woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president. Clinton lost the United States Electoral College vote to Republican Party nominee Donald Trump. She is the only first lady of the United States to have run for elected office.

George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st president of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Bush was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989. He was the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt was vice president for six months under William McKinley and became president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. He was 42 years old upon his first inauguration, making him the youngest person to hold the office.

Pope Leo XIV is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States, the first to hold either U.S. or Peruvian citizenship, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second from the Americas.

president of the United States from 1923 to 1929

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, politician, and former professional bodybuilder who served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

American writer (1902–1968)

American politician and diplomat (1923–2023)

United States Senator from Vermont

American economist and statistician (1912–2006)

American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

Tupac Amaru Shakur was an American rapper and actor. He was one of the most influential musical artists of the 20th century, and a prominent political activist for Black America. He is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Some of Shakur's music addressed social injustice, political issues, and the marginalization of African Americans, but he was also synonymous with gangsta rap and violent lyrics.

American politician (1936–2018)

Richard Bruce Cheney was an American politician and businessman who was the vice president of the United States under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. Cheney was a leading advocate for the Iraq War, and has been called the most powerful vice president in the history of the United States.

American diplomat and political scientist (born 1954)

American politician and diplomat (born 1943)

American fantasy and science fiction author (1929–2018)

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris was an American martial artist, actor, screenwriter, and author. He held black belts in karate, taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, he won numerous martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline, Chun Kuk Do. Norris began working in the American film industry as a martial arts instructor for celebrities before making his screen debut with a minor role in The Wrecking Crew (1968). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in The Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested he take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead, Good Guys Wear Black (1978), became a hit, and he soon became a popular action film star.

American actress, comedian, author and television personality

George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist. As of May 2025, he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion has already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. In 2020, Forbes called Soros the "most generous giver" in terms of percentage of net worth.

Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. She redefined the mostly ceremonial role into a platform for arts and culture, by hosting multiple high-profile events at the White House and leading its restoration into a historical site. Through her fashion and cultural literacy, she improved the global standing of the United States during the politically volatile Cold War. Her personal style became known as the "Jackie Look", which inspired worldwide fashion trends during the 1960s.

Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)

Czech-American tennis player

Robert Francis Kennedy, also known by his initials RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy served as the 64th United States attorney general from 1961 to 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from 1965 until his assassination in 1968. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he is considered an icon of modern American liberalism in the 21st century.

American film critic and author (1942–2013)

American musician (born 1969)

American economist (1915–2009)

American actress (1893–1993)

American actor (1923–2008)

American political economist (1933-2012)

Palestinian-American professor (1935–2003)

French-born American author (1903–1977)

American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist (1902–1974)

American behaviorist (1904–1990)

American comedian, actress, and television host (1933–2014)

American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist (1895–1983)

American writer and social activist (1901–1967)

American basketball player

American television and radio host (1933–2021)

American author, screenwriter, film director (1942–2008)

American economist, professor, and recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

American Roman Catholic singer-songwriter

American fitness instructor and video producer (1948–2024)

American Christian evangelist (1918–2018)

American political scientist (1927–2008)

American political scientist, political economist, and author

Israeli-American psychologist and economist (1934–2024)

American activist and journalist (born 1934)

American filmmaker and author (born 1954)

American mathematician, scientist in cybernetics and artificial intelligence (1894–1964)

Hong Kong-British-American physicist

American actress

American spiritual writer

Edward Moore Kennedy was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-most-senior member of the Senate when he died. He is ranked fifth in U.S. history for length of continuous service as a senator. Kennedy was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the father of U.S. representative Patrick J. Kennedy.

American actor, author and activist (born 1937)

American sociologist and activist (1868–1963)

U.S.-American theoretical physicist, futurist and author (1947-)