Political Leaders and Activists
| Name | Lifetime | Montana connection | Comments | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobell, Elouise P.Elouise P. Cobell | 1946–present | Born and lives on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation | Accountant; banker; rancher; lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Salazar, a successful $3.4 billion class action settlement on behalf of Native Americans against the federal government | |
| Coups, PlentyPlenty Coups | 1848–1932 | Born in Montana, possibly near Billings; lived in south-central Montana most of his life; spent later years near Pryor | Chief of the Mountain Crows, or Apsáalooke, band of the Crow Nation | |
| Haskell, Ella J. KnowlesElla J. Knowles Haskell | 1860–1911 | Moved to Montana from New Hampshire after finishing college; lived and worked in Helena, Butte, and then Glendive | Pioneer of women's rights in Montana; teacher; first woman to practice law in Montana and the first woman ever to plead a case before the U.S. Circuit Court; first woman to run for state Attorney General | |
| Horse-Capture, GeorgeGeorge Horse-Capture | 1937–present | Graduated from high school in Butte; taught college in Great Falls | Anthropologist; writer; political activist; participated in the Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island | |
| Joseph, ChiefChief Joseph | 1840–1904 | Led his people through much of western Montana during the Nez Perce War, eventually surrendering in the Bear Paw Mountains, close to the Canadian border | Chief of the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce; humanitarian; peacemaker | |
| Juneau, DeniseDenise Juneau | 1967–present | Lived in Billings, Browning, Bozeman, Missoula, and Helena | Teacher; Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction; head of Montana Office of Public Instruction; first American Indian woman to be elected to statewide executive office in Montana; member of Mandan and Hidatsa tribes | |
| Kemmis, DanielDaniel Kemmis | 1946–present | Born and raised in eastern Montana; attended law school in Missoula | Author; lawyer; speaker and minority leader of the Montana House of Representatives (1983–1985); mayor of Missoula (1990–1996) | |
| Leforge, ThomasThomas Leforge | 1850–1931 | Moved to Virginia City as a teen | Montana militiaman; scout; camp follower; often lived with the Crow Nation; author of historical account Memoirs of a White Crow Indian | |
| Mansfield, MikeMike Mansfield | 1903–2001 | Moved to Great Falls as at a very young age; attended college in Butte and Missoula | Served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps; miner; professor; Senator (1953–1977); longest serving Senate Majority Leader (1961–1977); ambassador to Japan (1977–1988) | |
| Old Person, EarlEarl Old Person | 1929–present | Born and lives on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation | Chief of the Blackfoot Confederacy | |
| Racicot, MarcMarc Racicot | 1948–present | Born in Thompson Falls; raised in Miles City and Libby | Governor of Montana (1993–2001); chairman of the Republican National Committee (2002–2003); lawyer | |
| Rankin, JeannetteJeannette Rankin | 1880–1973 | Born near and attended college in Missoula | First female member of the United States Congress (1917–1919, 1941–1943); only member of Congress to vote against United States entry into World War II; sister of Wellington D. Rankin | |
| Rankin, Wellington D.Wellington D. Rankin | 1884–1966 | Born near and attended college in Missoula | Attorney; Montana Attorney General (1920–26); landowner; brother of Jeannette Rankin | |
| Roth, Jr., William V.William V. Roth, Jr. | 1921–2003 | Born in Great Falls; raised in Helena | US Senator from Delaware (1971–2001); namesake of Roth IRA | |
| Thorkelson, JacobJacob Thorkelson | 1876–1945 | Moved to Montana as an adult in 1913; lived in Dillon | Navigator, medical doctor, reserve naval officer, United States Representative from Montana (1939–1941) | |
| Venne, CarlCarl Venne | 1946–2009 | Born in Helena; raised and lived on the Crow Indian Reservation | Chairman of the Crow Nation (2002–2009) | |
| Wheeler, Burton K.Burton K. Wheeler | 1876–1945 | Settled in Butte after losing his belongings in a poker game during a train stop in Butte while on the way to Seattle, Washington | Lawyer and United States Senator from Montana (1923–1947) | |
| Yellowtail, BillBill Yellowtail | 1948–present | Born in Wyola; lived in Helena and Bozeman | Administrator; member of Montana Senate (1985–1993); member of the Crow Nation | |
| Yellowtail, RobertRobert Yellowtail | 1889?–1988 | Born and raised in Lodge Grass | Lawyer; Indian leader; member of the Crow Nation |
Read more about this topic: List Of People From Montana, Politicians
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or leaders:
“The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Signal smokes, war drums, feathered bonnets against the western sky. New messiahs, young leaders are ready to hurl the finest light cavalry in the world against Fort Stark. In the Kiowa village, the beat of drums echoes in the pulsebeat of the young braves. Fighters under a common banner, old quarrels forgotten, Comanche rides with Arapaho, Apache with Cheyenne. All chant of war. War to drive the white man forever from the red man’s hunting ground.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)