Politicians

American

  • John AdamsSigner of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, second President
  • John Quincy AdamsDiplomat, senator, sixth President, congressman
  • Samuel AdamsBoston revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Charles Carroll of CarrolltonSigner of the Declaration of Independence, senator
  • George ClintonSoldier, politician, NY governor, vice president
  • John DickinsonLawyer, politician, writer, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • William EllerySigner of the Declaration of Independence from RI
  • Benjamin FranklinPhiladelphia printer, writer, scientist, inventor, diplomat to France
  • William FranklinRoyal Governor of NJ, Loyalist, son of Benjamin Franklin
  • Elbridge GerrySigner of the Declaration of Independence, vice president under Madison
  • Alexander HamiltonWashington’s aide-de-camp, lawyer, Secretary of the Treasury
  • John HancockMerchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence, MA governor
  • Patrick HenryLawyer, orator, VA governor
  • Thomas HutchinsonLast Royal Governor of MA
  • Ralph IzardFinancier, Continental congressman, U.S. senator
  • John JayLawyer, diplomat, Continental congressman, first Chief Justice
  • Thomas JeffersonLawyer, polymath, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, third President
  • Henry LaurensMerchant, planter, slave trader, president of Continental Congress
  • Arthur LeeDiplomat to France, Continental congressman
  • Francis Lightfoot LeeVA politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Richard Henry LeeVA revolutionary, signer of the Declaration of Independence, senator
  • Philip LivingstonNY merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Robert R. LivingstonNY lawyer, politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • James MadisonConstitutionalist, congressman, Secretary of State, fourth President
  • John MarshallSoldier, lawyer, politician, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  • George MasonPolitician, author, political philosopher, Anti-Federalist
  • James MonroeSoldier, lawyer, VA governor, diplomat, fifth President
  • Gouverneur MorrisMerchant, financier; helped draft then stylized the Constitution
  • Robert MorrisSigner of the Declaration of Independence, “Financier of the Revolution”
  • James Otis, Jr.Lawyer, politician, Boston revolutionary
  • Charles PinckneySoldier, Constitutional Convention delegate, South Carolina governor
  • Charles Cotesworth PinckneyLawyer, soldier, delegate to the Constitutional Convention
  • Edmund RandolphLawyer, VA governor, Constitutional Convention delegate
  • Peyton RandolphLawyer, VA politician, first president of Continental Congress
  • George ReadLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, senator for DE
  • John RutledgeSC governor, second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  • Roger ShermanLawyer and politician from CT; signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • Richard StocktonLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  • James WilsonLawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Supreme Court justice
  • George WytheLawyer, teacher, scholar, signer of the Declaration of Independence

British

French

Perhaps the most important element in Washington’s military education during the French and Indian War was his development of a strategic sense. The struggle for the Forks of the Ohio had started as a Virginia affair, but it quickly took on an international prominence. Washington became one of the men at the center of the conflict. Although he had a limited understanding of the European politics and diplomacy that helped to fuel the war, he nevertheless sensed the crucial importance of Indian affairs. He also perceived the strategic value of the different regions of North America — such as the Middle Atlantic, the Ohio, and the Hudson Valley — and learned how British ministers thought of conquering or defending a continent. Most of all, he learned how war could become a battleground for the competing ambitions and interests of the various colonies.

Edward G. Lengel
General George Washington: A Military Life (2005)