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.
| 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 |