A People’s History of the United States Characters

Wife of John Adams and an important figure in the American Revolution.

Founding Father and second American president.

18th-century figure in the American Revolution who, Zinn argues, encouraged moderation and order in his working-class allies, perhaps because he wanted to avoid true, radical change in the American colonies.

Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton.

Wealthy late 17th-century colonist who instigated “Bacon’s Rebellion,” an uprising against colonial leadership that was notable for uniting black slaves and working-class whites.

Beloved American folk singer whose songs of the 1960s often had a strong anti-Establishment flavor.

Dictatorial, U.S.-backed leader of Cuba in the years leading up to the rise of Fidel Castro.

20th-century American historian who argued that the Founding Fathers supported the creation of a strong national state largely to protect their own property and business interests.

Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan.

Leader of the anti-U.S. terrorist organization al-Qaeda, believed to have masterminded the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Early 20th-century radical writer who wrote, “War is the health of the state.”

Leftist, but relatively moderate Supreme Court justice appointed by President Bill Clinton.

19th century radical who led a raid on a military arsenal with the intention of arming slaves. He was later executed.

Democratic presidential candidate in 1896.

41st American president, whose four years in the White House saw the continuation of many of President Ronald Reagan’s policies, as well as a brief war in Kuwait.

43rd American president, who presided over the country during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He later declared a “war on terror” and deployed troops to the Middle East.

20th century French-Algerian writer whom Zinn cites when laying out his philosophy of history.

19th-century steel industrialist.

39th American president who was elected on the promise that he would honor the people’s needs, but remained mostly loyal to the business and military Establishment.

Leader of Cuba for most of the second half of the 20th century.

Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War Two.

22nd and 24th president of the United States. Like many powerful politicians of the era, he was an ally of businesses interests and a firm opponent of unions.

42nd American president, whose eight years in the White House were characterized by an active, militaristic foreign policy, a widening gap between rich and poor, and embarrassing sex scandals.

European explorer who, in 1492, sailed to the Americas, beginning an age of European imperialism.

16th century Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztec empire.

Beloved American frontier figure of the early 1800s, notable for his friendships with Native American tribes.

A priest who became one of Christopher Columbus’s most influential critics.

19th and early 20th century Socialist leader who organized a series of influential railway strikes and was later imprisoned for speaking out against America’s involvement in World War One.

19th-century Rhode Island lawyer who led a rebellion in support of white male suffrage in Rhode Island.

Famous American writer whose early novels, especially Three Soldiers, painted a bleak picture of World War One.

19th century black activist who played a critical role in growing the abolitionist movement and later in convincing Abraham Lincoln to support legislation freeing slaves.

Early 20th century black academic and activist who linked racism and segregation in America to an overall moral bankruptcy stemming from capitalist expansion.

Beloved American musician and songwriter who, for much of the 1960s, wrote music criticizing the American Establishment.

Founder of the National Civic Federation during the early 20th century.

34th American president.

U.S. government insider who leaked thousands of documents exposing the government’s lies and deceptions regarding the Vietnam War.

38th American president and successor to President Richard Nixon, who continued virtually all of Nixon’s policies.

19th-century industrialist who played an important role in brutally ending the 1892 Homestead Strike.

20th-century feminist writer whose book The Feminine Mystique is still a feminist classic.

20th-century economist who linked the stock market crash of 1929 with the growing inequality of American society.

19th century white abolitionist.

Late 19th-century economist who criticized the principles of land ownership and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City.

Leftist Supreme Court justice appointed by President Bill Clinton.

Vice president to President Bill Clinton, and later an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2000.

Early 19th-century feminist who challenged the domestic role of women.

Controversial prospective appointee to the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton, whom Clinton abandoned after she faced conservative criticism.

Founding Father and author of some of the Federalist Papers. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton engineered the creation of America’s national banking system.

Activist and local leader in the Black Panther Party who was shot in his sleep by Chicago police officers.

Florida secretary of state during the controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election.

Nineteenth American president, whose election was hotly contested by both political parties and resulted in the end of Reconstruction in the South, as well as a new alliance between Northern and Southern elites.

Early 20th-century union organizer, who later fled to the Soviet Union rather than face prosecution for organizing protests against America’s involvement in World War Two.

Famous American writer whose early novels, especially A Farewell to Arms, painted a bleak picture of World War One.

18th-century American statesman whose famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech established the paradigm for Establishment rule: unite the people using patriotism and lofty rhetoric.

Law professor who, in the midst of Clarence Thomas’s confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her.

Genocidal dictator of Germany during World War Two.

Communist leader of North Vietnam from the 1940s to 1969, during which time he led his people against American troops.

Supreme Court justice who, during World War One, accepted the federal government’s limitations on free speech by proposing the famous “clear and present danger” standard.

Black poet often associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

Dictator of Iraq from the 1980s to the 2000s.

17th-century Puritan thinker who antagonized the Puritan Establishment and later went to live in Rhode Island.

Seventh American president whom Zinn discusses largely for his role in expelling Native Americans from their ancestral homes.

Californian prisoner who, during his incarceration, penned a series of books attacking the injustices of American society. He was later murdered by a prison guard, which spawned the Attica prison riots.

Late 19th- and early 20th-century philosopher and political activist who criticized America’s militarism and imperialism.

Founding Father and one of the authors of the Federalists Papers.

Founding Father and president at the beginning of the 19th century, whose words in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal,” masked the fundamental inequality in American society.

36th American president, responsible for signing the Voting Rights Act, among other pieces of legislation that gave institutional protection to African-Americans. He also presided over the country during some of the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War.

The judge who sentenced the Rosenbergs to death.

Attorney General during the administration of President John F. Kennedy, his brother.

35th American president.

Early 20th-century feminist and Socialist activist.

Black civil rights activist during the fifties and sixties who preached a doctrine of nonviolent resistance to white racism and intolerance. Later in his life, King alienated the federal government of the U.S. by criticizing the Vietnam War and calling for radical redistributions of wealth.

Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford.

Veteran of the Vietnam War who later became a key activist against the American military.

Young government worker with whom President Bill Clinton had sexual relations.

Sixteenth American president, who presided over the country during the Civil War while greatly expanding the power of the American state.

17th-century British philosopher who stressed the importance of property and ownership in state administration.

World War Two hero who began his career by leading federal troops to break up a crowd of World War One veterans camped outside the White House.

Founding Father, author of some of the Federalist Papers, and fourth American president, who argued that the role of the state should be to arbitrate and referee conflicts between different factions of the population.

Highly respected Supreme Court justice who played a crucial role in many of the Court’s landmark decisions of the 1960s.

European philosopher, economist, and founder of the doctrine of Communism, who criticized capitalism on the basis that it wrongly deprived workers of the fruits of their own labor, concentrating wealth in the hands of the few.

Senator who, during the 1950s, was instrumental in leading a series of “witch hunts” against suspected Communists in government and other institutions of American society.

25th American president, often credited with greatly expanding the role of business interests in the federal government, and a firm supporter of America’s aggressive, militaristic foreign policy.

19th-century and early 20th century banker who bailed out the federal government in the 1890s.

19th-century feminist leader who helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention, a milestone in American feminism.

Third-party candidate for president in the year 2000.

Leader of the Black Panther party during the late 1960s.

The U.S.-backed leader of South Vietnam.

American Colonel who was tried for his role in the Iran-Contra Scandal, and is often thought to have been a “fall guy” for higher-ranking American politicians involved in the incident.

Pamphleteer, thinker, and writer during the American Revolution, best known for his pamphlet, Common Sense.

Black activist who played an important role in initiating the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

American naval commander who played a key role in using military force to intimidate Japan into opening its doors to trade with the United States.

16th-century Spanish explorer who conquered the Inca empire in South America.

Eleventh American president, notable for his role in provoking war with Mexico and later annexing Mexico’s territory in the Southwest.

Early 17th century Native American leader who led his people against English settlers.

40th American president, whose eight years in the White House were characterized by deregulation, cuts to welfare programs, and drastic expansions of the military budget.

20th-century poet and feminist who argued that sexism presupposed a fixed relationship between women and their own bodies, and that women needed to celebrate their bodies in radical new ways.

19th century oil industrialist who ran the monopolistic Standard Oil company.

26th American president, interpreted by Zinn as a racist, an enemy of the working-class, and a “secret conservative” who pretended to take up Progressive causes.

32nd American president who presided over the country during much of the Great Depression, and the entirety of World War Two.

Wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a supporter of rights for African-Americans.

Priest in El Salvador who was murdered, probably with the approval of the CIA, for speaking out against the U.S.-backed government in his country.

Alleged Soviet spy, and husband of Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed for stealing information about nuclear weapons.

Alleged Soviet spy, and wife of Julius Rosenberg, who was executed for helping her husband steal information about nuclear weapons.

Early 20th century anarchist who was executed for allegedly detonating a bomb.

Cherokee chief who helped develop a written language for his people.

20th century historian whom Zinn regards as exemplary of the hidden alliance between the Academy and the Establishment.

Soldier in the American Revolution who later led a rebellion against the new American state, which was suppressed with military force.

Early 20th-century “Muckraker” who criticized the squalid conditions of the meatpacking industry.

19th-century feminist leader who helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention, a milestone in American feminism.

Early 20th-century “Muckraker” who criticized the corruption of city planners.

20th century writer whose novels, including The Grapes of Wrath, portray the effects of the Great Depression on the working classes.

Early 20th-century “Muckraker” who criticized the Standard Oil company.

Early 20th-century pioneer of business management techniques.

Twelfth American president, and, previously, an important figure in the American military’s war on Native Americans.

Conservative Supreme Court justice and successor to Thurgood Marshall.

Writer and thinker who, in the 1840s, penned the famous essay, “Civil Disobedience,” to protest America’s involvement in the Mexican American War.

Unsuccessful opponent of Rutherford Hayes in the 1876 presidential election.

33rd American president, who made the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending World War Two.

19th century black feminist who delivered the famous, “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech in New York City.

Black leader who, in 1831, led a rebellion of several dozen slaves and was later executed

Celebrated 19th-century American author and noted opponent of American intervention in the Philippines.

Eighth American president.

Early 20th century anarchist who was executed for allegedly detonating a bomb.

New York Senator during World War One.

Early 20th century black activist who urged his followers to be moderate, prioritize economic independence, and accept the terms of segregation.

28th American president, who led the country during World War One.

Governor of the Pilgrim settlements in New England in the mid-17th century.

Georgian missionary who refused to take a loyalty oath against the Native American people.

20th-century black novelist who briefly joined the Communist party.

Black activist during the 1960s who advocated a strong policy of self-defense in the black community. He criticized Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for being too passive and accommodating to the white Establishment.

The 37th American president. He campaigned on ending the Vietnam War, and did remove ground troops but maintained bombing, particularly in Cambodia. He was forced to resign in 9174 after the Watergate Scandal exposed criminal behavior among some of Nixon's administration members and touching Nixon himself, as well.