J.Michael Martinez

Of the members of the “Great Triumvirate” in the United States Senate during the nineteenth century, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina...

Continuing my coverage of the “Great Triumvirate” (Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South...

Three statesmen dominated American politics for the first half of the nineteenth century, and no book on influential members of Congress...

History recalls James Madison as the father of the U.S. Constitution, one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers, secretary of...

Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., served as speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 until 1987, the third longest...

Mike Mansfield, sometimes called the “gentleman from Montana,” served as a United States congressman and senator from the Treasure State,...

Lyndon Baines Johnson is remembered as the 36th president of the United States, but before he entered the executive branch as John F....

As I discuss in my book-in-progress, Congressional Lions, Everett McKinley Dirksen was a leading Republican congressman and senator...

As I discuss in my book-in-progress, Congressional Lions, Sam Rayburn served as a United States congressman representing the Fourth...

In my forthcoming book Congressional Lions, I discuss Joseph Gurney Cannon, a long-time Republican congressman from Illinois who served...

Republican Congressman Thomas B. Reed of Maine became one of the most powerful speakers of the United States House of Representatives,...

A Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, Gerry E. Studds, was the first openly gay member of Congress. I discuss his life and career...

As I discuss in Congressional Lions, my book-in-progress, Charles Curtis was the first person of significant Native American ancestry to...

In a 2014 National Journal article, Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wrote about “how I learned to love my firstness.” Her...

Joseph Marion Hernández was the first person of known Hispanic descent to serve in the United States Congress. He was a Whig member of...

Love her or hate her—and she inspires intense feelings both for and against her political positions—Nancy Pelosi undeniably is one of the...

Carol Moseley Braun, a lawyer from Chicago, became the first black female United States senator when she was elected to office in 1992....

Barbara Jordan was one of the most impressive legislators ever to serve in the United States Congress. Always a trailblazer, she was the...

In this blog posting, I will discuss Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman ever elected to the United States Congress. I discuss...

In this blog posting, I will discuss Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, who was the first woman elected to serve in both...