Michigan State University Libraries - Political Science and Public Policy Resources

People

An alphabetical collection of web sites that identify key players in government, political science, and public policy issues.

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present
http://bioguide.congress.gov/
This site provides biographies of members of the U.S. Congress and the Continental Congress since 1774. Delegates who served in Congress from the territories are also listed. There are also links to a wealth of information about the U.S. Congress in general.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Biographical Information on Principal Officers, U.S. Department of State
Current: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/c130.htm
clinton: http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/biography/index.html
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Biography Center
http://www.biography-center.com/
Although not focusing on political biographies as such, this web site does provide links to many politicians from around the world available over the web. Current covers 10764 biographies (10284 biographies in English).
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/chiefs/
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/chiefs/index.html
Updated monthly. Also includes Ambassadors to the United States and Heads of Central Banks. Courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Diplomatic List
http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/dpl/
The Diplomatic List, of missions in the U.S., is prepared quarterly by the Office of Protocol. It contains the names of members of the diplomatic staffs of all missions and their spouses. Members of the diplomatic staff are the members of the staff of the mission having diplomatic rank. These persons, with the exception of those identified by asterisks, enjoy full immunity under provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Founding Fathers: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/
charters/constitution_founding_fathers.html
The National Archives and Records Administration presents biographies and portraits of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Insider's Guide to Policy Experts and Organizations
http://www.policyexperts.org/
Policy Experts is your single-source directory for locating knowledgeable authorities and leading policy institutes actively involved in a broad range of public policy issues, both domestic and foreign. Journalists, researchers, public officials and conference planners find it to be an indispensable guide for locating the right expert at a moment's notice.
Our online format is updated monthly and searchable by name, affiliation, location or more than 160 areas of expertise. The database of organizations includes mission statements, tax-status, websites and priority issues.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts
http://foia.state.gov/MMS/KOH/keyoffcity.asp
A web version of the hard copy publication, "Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts: Guide for Business Representatives," updated two times per year by the Bureau of Administration. Includes advice on contacting foreign service posts by letter or telephone.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

National First Ladies' Library
http://www.firstladies.org/
Developed and maintained by the Stark State College of Technology in Canton, Ohio, this new site is the first virtual library devoted to the history of America's First Ladies. At the heart of the site is a comprehensive bibliographic database containing 40,000 books, articles, letters, manuscripts, and other works by and about the 43 First Ladies. Both the site and the new physical library aim to bring materials together to fill a longstanding informational void in both American women's studies and the history of the presidency. Source: Scout Report, February 27, 1998.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Political Graveyard
http://politicalgraveyard.com
How and why did this site come to be? Many years ago, browsing in the biography section of the MSU Library, I came across an edition of the Biographical Directory of the American Congress (most recently retitled Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), which gives a little squib on everyone who had ever served in the U.S. House or Senate, as Vice President, or in the Continental Congress. I was intrigued to see that the specific place of burial was given for just about every deceased member. A few minutes' work revealed that eleven of Michigan's U.S. Senators were buried in Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery. The directory was a fabulous treasure trove of information about historic cemeteries in all parts of the country, across every period of U.S. history; I wished there was some way to organize the data by place of burial. There is also an alphabetical index, an index by date or year of birth, by office held or sought, by place of birth or death, and others. [Note: As of July 2001, the database lists 81,279 politicians, living and dead, from the 1700s to the present.] Surely a labor of love by Lawrence Kestenbaum.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Presidents
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/
An index on the presidents of the United States and contains information and documents of their speeches, writings, biographies and anything else related to their person or the office they are holding.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Rulers
http://rulers.org/
This site contains lists of heads of state and heads of government (and, in certain cases, de facto leaders which don't occupy either of those formal positions) of all currently existing countries and territories. Also included are the subdivisions of some countries (the links are at the bottom of the respective country entries), as well as some international organizations. Foreign ministers of all countries are listed separately.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Skeleton Closet
http://www.realchange.org/
Tracks the skeletons in the closets of major and sometimes not so major national political figures, keeping track of allegations by mainstream and semi-mainstream sources. It's maintained by Real People for Real Change, a group of West Coasters claiming to be "fed up with politics, especially media coverage of politics" and pledging "to do something (about it) besides bitch and drink like everybody else does".
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Who's Who in the Federal Government
http://exlibris.memphis.edu/resource/unclesam/whos.html
Courtesy of Uncle Sam, a web site maintained by the University of Memphis Regional Depository Library.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

Women World Leaders, 1945-2004
http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/00women.htm
Another biographical directory maintained by Robert Ortiz de Zarate.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

World Political Leaders, 1945-2004
http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/00index.htm
A chronological listing of contemporary rulers from 185 countries and 3 organizations. Each file offers the Heads of State and Government, ruling terms and decease dates (if they were). Further info (other offices, kind of regime, party in power) is also provided in some cases. Another biographical directory maintained by Robert Ortiz de Zarate.
(Last checked 07/03/07)

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Jon Harrison

Ownership Statement Jon Harrison : Page Editor Political Science Specialist Social Sciences Collections Coordinator Michigan State University Libraries 100 Library E. Lansing, MI 48824-1048 Last revised 07/03/07

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