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American founders

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Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his musical achievements broke American racial barriers and made him a dominant figure worldwide. Through his songs, concerts, and fashion, he proliferated visual performance for artists in popular music, popularizing street dance moves such as the moonwalk, the robot, and the anti-gravity lean. Jackson is often deemed the greatest entertainer of all time.
John F. Kennedy
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.
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, Carter served from 1971 to 1975 as the 76th governor of Georgia and from 1963 to 1967 in the Georgia State Senate. He lived longer than any other president in US history, reaching age 100.
Hillary Clinton
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.
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influential figure in popular music. With estimated sales of 124 million records, she is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Publications such as Billboard and Rolling Stone have ranked her among the greatest artists in history.
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Queen of Pop", she is known for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. Her works incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes and have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. Madonna has had a significant socio-cultural impact across both the 20th and 21st centuries and is often deemed one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Helen Keller
American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
Calvin Coolidge
president of the United States from 1923 to 1929
Herbert Hoover
president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 (1874–1964)
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. An influential figure in popular music, Cyrus is known for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She was an established child actress before developing a successful entertainment career as an adult. Cyrus emerged as a teen idol with her portrayal of Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011), growing a profitable franchise and achieving two number-one soundtracks on the Billboard 200.
Bernie Sanders
United States Senator from Vermont
Michelle Obama
lawyer and former First Lady of the United States (2009-2017)
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, film producer, and record producer. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded performers of all time. A cultural icon, she broke down gender and racial barriers through her artistic achievements and music videos. Known for her vocal delivery, gospel singing style, crossover appeal, and live performances, Houston was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest singers of all time in 2023.
Milton Friedman
American economist and statistician (1912–2006)
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and Black nationalist leader who rose from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity to a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the religious organization the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until 1964. He was also a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with Black people and Muslims worldwide for his pursuit of racial justice.
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda is an American actress and activist. Fonda's work spans several genres and over seven decades of film and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards. Fonda is also the recipient of various honorary awards including the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2007, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2017, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2025.
Melania Trump
Melania Knauss Trump is a Slovenian and American former model serving as the first lady of the United States since 2025, a role she previously held from 2017 to 2021 as the third wife of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States. She is the first naturalized citizen and the first non-native English speaker to become first lady; the second foreign-born first lady, after Louisa Adams; the second Roman Catholic first lady, after Jacqueline Kennedy; and the second to hold the position nonconsecutively, after Frances Cleveland.
Larry Sanger
American former professor, co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of Citizendium and other projects (born 1968)
John Dewey
American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer (1859–1952)
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch was an American filmmaker, producer, actor, painter, and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, with his films often characterized by a distinctive surrealist sensibility that gave rise to the adjective "Lynchian". In a career spanning more than five decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Honorary Award, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, a Palme d'Or and Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, two César Awards, and a (posthumous) Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and nine Primetime Emmy Awards.
George Soros
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.
Jane Addams
American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer (1860–1935)
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who was the founder of the Manson Family. He gained notoriety for ordering the Tate–LaBianca murders, where his followers murdered nine people around Los Angeles in 1969.
Laura Bush
First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009
Susan B. Anthony
American women's rights activist (1820-1906)
Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and 2002 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He made his film debut in The Christmas Path (1998). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed a short film titled Maniac (2011), starring American rappers Cage and Kid Cudi.
Jill Biden
American educator and First Lady of the United States from 2021 to 2025
Billy Graham
American Christian evangelist (1918–2018)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
American writer, suffragist and Women's Rights activist (1815–1902)
Gloria Steinem
American activist and journalist (born 1934)
Geena Davis
American actress (born 1956)
Helena Blavatsky
Russian occult writer (1831-1891)
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Lauper is known for her distinctive image, which features eccentric clothing and a variety of hair colors. She is also known for her powerful four-octave vocal range. Lauper has been dubbed the "Queen of Quirky Pop". She has sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has also been celebrated for her humanitarian work, particularly as an advocate for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
W. E. B. Du Bois
American sociologist and activist (1868–1963)
Betty Ford
First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977
Betty Friedan
American feminist writer and activist (1921–2006)
Marcus Garvey
Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur (1887-1940)
Margaret Sanger
American birth control activist and nurse (1879–1966)
Anton LaVerga
Founder of the Church of Satan, author of the Satanic Bible (1930-1997)
Timothy Leary
American psychologist (1920–1996)
Shirley Chisholm
first black woman elected to the United States Congress (1924-2005)
Coretta Scott King
American author, activist, and civil rights leader; wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Murray Rothbard
American economist (1926–1995)
L. Ron Hubbard
American writer and Scientology founder (1911–1986)
James Randi
Canadian-American stage magician and skeptical movement adherent
Halsey (singer)
Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, known professionally as Halsey, is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Noted for her distinctive singing voice, she has received numerous accolades, including three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Award, and an American Music Award, as well as nominations for three Grammy Awards. She was on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon is an American media executive, political strategist, pundit and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of President Donald Trump's first administration before Trump fired him. He is a former executive chairman of Breitbart News. Since 2019, Bannon has hosted the War Room podcast.
Ellen G. White
American author, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1827–1915)
Rosie O'Donnell
American comedian, producer, actress, and television personality
Jim Jones
American cult leader (1931–1978)
James Patterson
American author
Poul Anderson
American science fiction writer (1926–2001)
Charles Taze Russell
Founder of the Bible Student movement (1852–1916)
Clara Barton
American Civil War nurse (1821–1912)
Jeannette Rankin
American congresswoman for Montana (1880-1973)
Ida B. Wells
American journalist and civil rights activist (1862–1931)
Grace Coolidge
First Lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929
Cesar Chavez
Cesario Estrada "Cesar" Chavez was an American labor unionist and political activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Ideologically, his worldview combined leftism with Catholic social teaching.
Arianna Huffington
Greek and American businesswoman (born 1950)
Jewel
American singer-songwriter