List of University of Michigan Law and Government Alumni - Legislators

Legislators

• Donald M. Baker (B.A., M.A. economics 1952, J.D. 1956); major force in almost every major piece of federal legislation on labor, education and poverty of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; chief counsel for the Office of Economic Opportunity under Sargent Shriver during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration; oversaw such landmark legislation as the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, key additions to the Civil Rights Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and many school busing, family planning, jobs and anti-poverty programs.
• Andrea Barthwell (M.D. 1980); Deputy Director for Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar); resigned in July 2004 with an interest in running for United States Senate from Illinois.
• Alvin Morell Bentley (B.A. 1940, M.A. 1963), U.S. Representative from Michigan's 8th congressional district (1953–1961); wounded in the 1954 Capitol shooting incident; member of the Foreign Service
• William J. "Bill" Bogaard (J.D. 1965), mayor of Pasadena, California (1984–1986; 1999–present); longest-serving mayor in city history.
• Howard L. Bost (Ph.D. 1955), historic architect of Medicare and job-related benefits for workers. Michigan awarded him the nation's first doctorate in medical economics.
• Lyman James Briggs (M.A. in Physics, 1895), Civil servant for the U.S. Government for 49 years; headed the Briggs Advisory Committee on Uranium. Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University named in his honor.
• William J. Bulow (J.D. 1893), first Democratic governor of South Dakota (1927–1931); U.S. Senator (1931–1941)
• Arleigh Burke (MSE 1931), United States Navy admiral; World War II naval hero; served an unprecedented three terms as Chief of Naval Operations (1955–1961)
• Charles W. Burson (B.A. in Political Science, 1966), Senior Professor of Practice at the Washington University School of Law; g Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary at Monsanto Company (2001–2006); Tennessee Attorney General (1988–1997); chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore (1997–2001)
• William W. Cook (A.B. 1880, J.D. 1882), New York City attorney and preeminent writer on corporations law; major benefactor of the Law School; gave virtually his entire fortune to build the William W. Cook Law Quadrangle (Law Quad)
• Harry M. Daugherty (LL.B. 1881), United States Attorney General; famously campaign manager and close advisor to Warren G. Harding
• Donald McDonald Dickinson (J.D. 1867) - Accepted the appointment as United States Postmaster General, under Grover Cleveland, serving from January 6, 1888, until the end of Cleveland's first term in 1889.
• Gerald R. Ford, (B.A. 1935, HLLD 1974), the 38th President of the United States (1974–1977); 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974); Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (1965–1973); U.S. Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district (1949–1973). Ford studied economics and political science. He played center on the Michigan football team and was the team's most valuable player in 1934.
• Harold Ford Jr. (J.D. 1996), U.S. Representative from the Memphis-based Tennessee's 9th congressional district (1997–2007)
• Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt (J.D. 1965) - President and CEO of the Gephardt Group lobbying firm; House Minority Leader (1995–2003); House Majority Leader (1989–1995); U.S. Representative from Missouri's 3rd congressional district (1977–2005); St. Louis city alderman (1971–1976); unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for President in 1988 and 2004
• Stephen Goldsmith (J.D.), Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Deputy Mayor of New York City (2010–11); mayor of Indianapolis (1992–1999); district attorney for Marion County, Indiana (1979–1990)
• Henry Thomas Hazard (LLD 1868), Mayor of Los Angeles (1889–1892).
• Alexander W. Joel (J.D. 1987) - Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Philip Lader (M.A. in History 1967) - United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1997–2001); Administrator of the Small Business Administration (1994–1997); House Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (1993–1994)
• Estefania Aldaba-Lim (Ph.D.), the first female Filipino Cabinet secretary serving as social services and development secretary from 1971 to 1977. She was also the first Filipino clinical psychologist. She played prominent roles as the former assistant secretary general of the United Nations Children's Fund's International Year of the Child. Was President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. Aldaba-Lim was the first woman to become special ambassador to the United Nations in 1979. She received the UN Peace Medal Award from then Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
• Robert Meeropol (1969, M.A. 1970), attorney; founder and executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children (1990–present); son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
• William L. Mitchell (J.D.) - Former Kansas state legislator and was speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1962. He served in the Kansas House from 1957 to 1962 and was chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission, serving from 1963 to 1968.
• Julius Sterling Morton (A.B. 1854) - United States Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland; created Arbor Day.
• Frank Murphy (J.D. 1914) - United States Attorney General under Franklin D. Roosevelt; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Edward Charles Pierce (BA 1955; MED: MD 1959) (3 January 1930-4 July 2002) was a politician and physician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He was elected to the Michigan State Senate from the state's eighteenth district in 1978, and held the seat through 1982.
• Lloyd Welch Pogue (LAW: JD 1926) was called "the nation's leading authority on civil aviation." In 1938, the year the Civil Aeronautics Authority was formed in Washington, D.C. Welch was named assistant general counsel of the CAA, then general counsel and chief lawyer of the agency. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt named Welch to the Civil Aeronautics Board - now the Federal Aviation Administration - and reappointed him chairman for four successive, important years. In Chicago in December 1944, Pogue represented the United States at the key International Civil Aviation Conference, which established English as the international air traffic control language and implemented other rules for international flights.
• Harvey S. Rosen (A.B. 1970), served as Chair of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. Served as the deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis in the Department of the Treasury under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1991.
• Joe Schwarz (B.A. History: 1959), Republican US Congressman, MI-7th (2005–2007), Michigan State Senator (1987–2002).
• George Sutherland (LAW: 1883) - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
• Fred Upton (BA 1975), Republican US Congressman, MI-6th (southwest Michigan)
• Arthur H. Vandenberg (LAW: JD) - Republican US Senator; was instrumental in creation of the United Nations in 1945. In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In that position, he cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO.
• Kapila Vatsyayan (MA) - scholar of Indian classical dance; member of the Rajya Sabha (2006, 2007–present)
• Justin Amash (B.A. 2002, J.D. 2005) - lawyer, politician; U.S. Representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district; noted libertarian-oriented maverick
• Anson Burlingame, (1838–1841) a Congressional Representative from Massachusetts; attended Detroit branch of the University of Michigan; served in the State senate in 1852; elected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress and as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1861); appointed Minister to Austria March 22, 1861, but was not accepted by the Austrian Government because of certain opinions he was known to entertain regarding Hungary and Sardinia; Minister to China from June 14, 1861, to November 21, 1867; appointed December 1, 1867, by the Chinese Government its ambassador to negotiate treaties with foreign powers; died in St. Petersburg, Russia, February 23, 1870;
• Gerrit John Diekema, (LAW: JD 1883) a Congressional Representative from Michigan; member of the State house of representatives 1885-1891, serving as speaker in 1889; mayor of Holland in 1895; chairman of the Michigan Republican State central committee 1900-1910; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896; member of the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission from 1901 until he resigned in 1907; chairman of the Republican State central committee in 1927; appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands by President Hoover on August 20, 1929, and served until his death in The Hague, Netherlands, December 20, 1930;
• Thomas W. Palmer, (MDNG) Senator from Michigan; member, State senate 1879-1880; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1889; appointed United States Minister to Spain in 1889 by President Benjamin Harrison and served for two years;