American People Famous Political Activists from the United States

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List of notable or famous political activists from the United States, with bios and photos, including the top political activists born in the United States and even some popular political activists who immigrated to the United States. If you're trying to find out the names of famous American political activists then this list is the perfect resource for you. These political activists are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known political activist from the United States is included when available.

List people include Kristen Bell, Robert De Niro and many more.

This historic political activists from the United States list can help answer the questions "Who are some American political activists of note?" and "Who are the most famous political activists from the United States?" These prominent political activists of the United States may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected American political activists.

Use this list of renowned American political activists to discover some new political activists that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. (47 items)

1
Aaron Russo is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Aaron Russo Died at 64 (1943-2007) Aaron Russo was an American entertainment businessman, film producer and director, and political activist. He was best known for producing such movies as Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose. ...more

2
Afeni Shakur is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Afeni Shakur age 71 Afeni Shakur Davis is an American music businesswoman, philanthropist, former political activist and ex-Black Panther. She is the mother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. She acted as her own ...more

3
Angela Davis is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Angela Davis age 74 Angela Yvonne Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. She emerged as a prominent counterculture activist and radical in the 1960s as a leader of the Communist Party USA, ...more

4
Benjamin Franklin is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Benjamin Franklin Died at 84 (1706-1790) Benjamin Franklin FRS was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, ...more

5
Burt Wilson is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Burt Wilson age 85 Burt Wilson is a philosopher, writer, broadcaster, jazz musician, political activist, playwright, and former advertising executive.

6
Chuck D is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Chuck D age 57 Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, better known by his stage name Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as ...more

7
Dashiell Hammett is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Dashiell Hammett Died at 67 (1894-1961) Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, a screenplay writer, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam ...more

8
David Bossie is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
David Bossie age 52 David N. Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000 he has been President and Chairman of conservative advocacy organization Citizens United.

9
Debbie Willhite is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Debbie Willhite age 66 Debbie Willhite is a United States of America Democratic political consultant and activist who has worked on six presidential campaigns, served as Policy Director for the Speaker of the House in ...more

10
Doris
Doris "Granny D" Haddock Died at 100 (1910-2010) Doris Haddock was an American political activist from New Hampshire. Haddock achieved national fame when, between the ages of 88 and 90, starting on January 1, 1999, and culminating on February ...more

11
Ed Asner is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Ed Asner age 88 Edward "Ed" Asner is an American film, television, and stage actor, voice actor, and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning ...more

12
Eldridge Cleaver is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Eldridge Cleaver Died at 63 (1935-1998) Leroy Eldridge Cleaver, better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was an American writer, and political activist, who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. His 1968 book Soul On Ice is a ...more

13
Elizabeth Anne Hull is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Elizabeth Anne Hull age 81 Elizabeth Anne Hull, PhD, is an American academic, political activist and science fiction expert. She is Professor Emerita of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, where she ...more

14
Geo Anne Sosa is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Geo Anne Sosa age 63 Born Joanne Sosa, began career in  1970's  series of  message films Billy Jack, The Trial of Billy Jack, Master Gunfighter directed by Tom Laughlin. In 1981 appeared opposite ...more

15
Gregory Žatkovich is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Gregory Žatkovich Died at 81 (1886-1967) Gregory Ignatius Zhatkovich was an American lawyer and political activist for Rusyns in the United States and Europe. He was the first governor of Carpathian Ruthenia, the Rusyn autonomous ...more

16
Harry Belafonte is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Harry Belafonte age 91 Harry Belafonte is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" ...more

17
Huey P. Newton is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Huey P. Newton Died at 47 (1942-1989) Huey Percy Newton was an African-American political activist and revolutionary, who along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. Newton had a long series of confrontations ...more

18
Jackson Browne is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Jackson Browne age 69 Clyde Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Coming to prominence in the 1970s, Browne has written and recorded ...more

19
Jane Fonda is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Jane Fonda age 80 Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model and fitness guru. She is a two-time Academy Award winner. In 2014, she was the recipient of the American Film ...more

20
Janeane Garofalo is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Janeane Garofalo age 53 Janeane Garofalo is an American film actress, stand-up comedian, liberal political activist, and writer. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on the Ben ...more

21
Jim Hightower is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Jim Hightower age 75 James Allen "Jim" Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author who served from 1983 to 1991 as the elected commissioner of the Texas ...more

22
Kahn-Tineta Horn is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Kahn-Tineta Horn age 77 Kahn-Tineta Horn is a renowned Mohawk political activist, civil servant, and former fashion model. "Since 1972 she has held various positions in the social, community and educational ...more

23
Kristen Bell is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Kristen Bell age 37 Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress and singer. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She gained critical acclaim as the title character on ...more

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M-1 is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
M-1 age 41 Mutulu Olugbala better known by his stage name M-1 is an American rapper, activist and author from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the Political hip hop duo Dead ...more

25
Marietta Peabody Tree is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Marietta Peabody Tree Died at 74 (1917-1991) Marietta Peabody Tree was an American socialite and political supporter, who represented the United States on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, appointed under the administration of ...more

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Markos Moulitsas is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Markos Moulitsas age 46 Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos", is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic ...more

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Maya Keyes is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Maya Keyes age 32 Maya Jeane Marcel-Keyes is an American social and political activist and daughter of Alan Keyes, a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Marcel-Keyes has been involved with ...more

28
Meir Kahane is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Meir Kahane Died at 58 (1932-1990) Meir David Kahane was a controversial American-Israeli rabbi, ultra-Zionist political figure, and writer, whose work became either the direct or indirect foundation of most modern Jewish ...more

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Michael Lerner is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Michael Lerner age 75 Michael Lerner appeared in the Young, Jewish, and Left documentary film.

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Morgan Spurlock is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Morgan Spurlock age 47 Morgan Valentine Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter, and political activist, best known for the documentary films Super Size Me, Where In ...more

31
Ned Touchstone is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Ned Touchstone Died at 62 (1926-1988) Ned O'Neal Touchstone was a newspaper publisher who was a figure in the "Radical Right" in Louisiana politics during the 1960s. He was born in the village of Florien in Sabine Parish ...more

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Noam Chomsky is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Noam Chomsky age 89 Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator, social justice activist, and anarcho-syndicalist advocate. Sometimes described as ...more

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Nomy Lamm is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Nomy Lamm age 42 Nomy Lamm is an actress.

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Ralph Nader is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Ralph Nader age 84 Ralph Nader is an American political activist of Lebanese origin, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, ...more

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Richard Gere is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Richard Gere age 68 Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor and activist. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to ...more

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Rob Reiner is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Rob Reiner age 71 Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, son-in-law of Archie ...more

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Robert De Niro is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Robert De Niro age 74 Robert De Niro is an American actor and film producer who has starred in over 90 films. His first major film roles were in the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly and the Martin Scorsese-directed ...more

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Robert Greenwald is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Robert Greenwald age 74 Robert Greenwald is an American television, feature film and documentary filmmaker, and political activist. Greenwald is founder and president of Brave New Films He has produced and/or directed ...more

39
Ron Silver is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Ron Silver Died at 63 (1946-2009) Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.

40
Stephen Stills is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Stephen Stills age 73 Stephen Arthur Stills is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash. He performed on a professional level in ...more

41
Stokely Carmichael is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Stokely Carmichael Died at 57 (1941-1998) Kwame Touré, once known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American revolutionary active in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and later, the global Pan-African movement. Growing up ...more

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Suheir Hammad is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Suheir Hammad age 44 Suheir Hammad is an American poet, author and political activist. She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, New ...more

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Susan Sarandon is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Susan Sarandon age 71 Susan Abigail Sarandon is an American actress. She is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award winner who is also known for her social and political activism for a variety of liberal causes. She was ...more

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Vince Vaughn is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Vince Vaughn age 45 Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and activist. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining ...more

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Vincent Flaherty is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Vincent Flaherty Vince Flaherty is an American producer, recording artist, writer, and political activist. As of February, 2014 Flaherty is a candidate to represent California’s District 33 in the U.S. Congress ...more

46
Wayne H. Babbitt is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Wayne H. Babbitt Died at 66 (1928-1994) Wayne H. Babbitt was a Republican politician in the U.S. state of Arkansas, who in 1972 became the only member of his party ever to oppose the reelection of entrenched Democratic U.S. Senator ...more

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Whoopi Goldberg is listed (or ranked) 47 on the list Famous Political Activists from the United States
Whoopi Goldberg age 62 Whoopi Goldberg is an American actress, comedienne, political activist, writer, producer, and television host. Although Goldberg made her film debut in the avant-garde ensemble film Citizen: I'm ...more