Political History Resources: Federal Government Service by Alumni

This list details Bowdoin alumni who served in the federal government. Included are Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and executive branch elected and appointed officials. Entries are organized alphabetically by last name.

Click here to review a list organized by government branch (Executive; Legislative; and Judicial), then by Bowdoin College class year.


Name of Graduate Class Office Held Dates
Alexander, DeAlva Stanwood 1870 U.S. Attorney, Northern New York State 1889-1893
U.S. Representative (NY) 1897-1911
Allen, Amos Lawrence 1860 U.S. Representative (ME) 1899-1911
Allen, Thomas 1967 U.S. Representative (ME) 1996-
Anderson, John 1813 U.S. Representative (ME) 1825-1833
Andrews, Thomas H. 1975 U.S. Representative (ME) 1991-1995
Appleton, John 1834 U.S. Minister to Bolivia 1848-1849
U.S. Representative (ME) 1851-1853
Asst. U.S. Secretary of State 1857-1860
U.S. Minister to Russia 1860-1861
Bell, James 1822 U.S. Senator (NH) 1855-1857
Benson, Samuel Page 1825 U.S. Representative (ME) 1853-1857
Bradbury, James Ware 1825 U.S. Senator (ME) 1847-1853
Brewster, Ralph Owen 1909 U.S. Representative (ME) 1935-1941
U.S. Senator (ME) 1941-1952
Burton, Harold Hitz 1909 U.S. Senator (OH) 1941-1945
U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1945-1958
Cilley, Jonathan 1825 U.S. Representative (ME) 1837-1838
Cohen, William S. 1962 U.S. Representative (ME) 1972-1978
U.S. Senator (ME) 1978-1997
U.S. Secretary of Defense 1997-2001
Douglas, Paul Howard 1913 U.S. Senator (IL) 1949-1967
Dunlap, Robert Pinckney 1815 U.S. Representative (ME) 1843-1847
Evans, George 1815 U.S. Representative (ME) 1829-1841
U.S. Senator (ME) 1841-1847
Evans, Isaac Newton m1851 U.S. Representative (PA) 1877-1879; 1883-1887
Farley, Ephraim Wilder 1836 U.S. Representative (ME) 1853-1855
Felch, Alpheus 1827 U.S. Senator (MI) 1847-1853
Fessenden, Samuel Clement 1834 U.S. Representative (ME) 1861-1863
U.S. Patent Examiner 1865-1879
U.S. Consul, St. John, New Brunswick 1879-1881
Fessenden, Thomas A. Deblois 1845 U.S. Representative (ME) 1862-1863
Fessenden, William Pitt 1823 U.S. Representative (ME) 1833-1837
U.S. Senator (ME) 1854-1864; 1865-1869
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury 1864-1865
Frye, William Pierce 1850 U.S. Representative (ME) 1871-1881
U.S. Senator (ME) 1881-1911
Fuller, Melville Weston 1853 U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice 1888-1910
Garland, Peter Adams 1945 U.S. Representative (ME) 1961-1963
Gibson, Paris 1851 U.S. Senator (MT) 1901-1905
Grover, Lafayette n1846 U.S. Representative (OR) 1859
U.S. Senator (OR) 1877-1883
Hale, John Parker 1827 U.S. Representative (NH) 1843-1845
U.S. Senator (NH) 1847-1853; 1855-1865
U.S. Minister to Spain 1865-1869
Hale, Robert 1910 U.S. Representative (ME) 1943-1959
Hamlin, Simon Moulton 1900 U.S. Representative (ME) 1935-1937
Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1825 U.S. Consul, Liverpool, England 1853-1857
Hudon, Edward G. 1937 Asst. U.S. District Attorney, Maine 1966-1970
U.S. Supreme Court, Librarian 1972-1976
Lovejoy, Owen 1834 U.S. Representative (IL) 1857-1864
McGuillicuddy, Daniel John 1881 U.S. Representative (ME) 1911-1917
Mitchell, George J. 1954 U.S. Attorney, Maine 1977-1979
U.S. District Court Judge, Maine 1979-1980
U.S. Senator (ME) 1980-1995
Moran, Jr., Edward Carleton 1917 U.S. Representative (ME) 1933-1937
Asst. U.S. Secretary of Labor 1945
Otis, John 1823 U.S. Representative (ME) 1849-1851
Peters, John Andrew 1885 U.S. Representative (ME) 1913-1922
U.S. District Court Judge, Maine 1922-1947
Pickering, Thomas 1953 U.S. Ambassador, Jordan 1974-1978
U.S. Ambassador, Nigeria 1981-1983
U.S. Ambassador, El Salvador 1983-1985
U.S. Ambassador, Israel 1985-1988
U.S. Ambassador, United Nations 1989-1992
U.S. Ambassador, India 1992
U.S. Ambassador, Russia 1993-1996
Pierce, Franklin 1824 U.S. Representative (NH) 1833-1837
U.S. Senator (NH) 1837-1842
U.S. Attorney General 1846
U.S. President 1853-1857
Pike, Frederick Augustus 1837 U.S. Representative (ME) 1861-1869
Prentiss, Seargent Smith 1826 U.S. Representative (MS) 1838-1839
Randall, Benjamin 1809 U.S. Representative (ME) 1839-1843
Reed, Thomas Brackett 1860 U.S. Representative (ME) 1877-1899
Rice, William Whitney 1846 U.S. Representative (MA) 1877-1887
Sawtelle, Cullen 1825 U.S. Representative (ME) 1845-1847; 1849-1851
Snow, Donald Francis 1901 U.S. Representative (ME) 1929-1933
Stevens, Frederick Clement 1881 U.S. Representative (MN) 1897-1915
Storer, Bellamy 1809 U.S. Representative (OH) 1835-1837
Sweat, Lorenzo DeMedici 1837 U.S. Representative (ME) 1863-1865
Thomas, Jr., William Widgery 1860 U.S. Consul, Gothenberg, Sweden 1863-1865
Thurston, Samuel Royal 1843 U.S. Representative (OR) 1849-1851
Upton, Charles Horace 1834 U.S. Representative (VA) 1861-1862
U.S. Consul, Switzerland 1863-1877
Washburn, William Drew 1854 U.S. Representative (MN) 1879-1885
U.S. Senator (MN) 1889-1895

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