Famous Descendants
painting by John Trumbull/ © cliff1066/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
PRES. JOHN ADAMS (1767–1848)
2nd U.S. President
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."
painting by Wm Hudson Jr./ © cliff1066/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
PRES. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1767–1848)
6th U.S. President
"[America’s] glory is not dominion, but liberty."
© crown022002/ allstarpics.com/ PD-US
MAUDE ADAMS (1872–1953)
actress
"Don't be afraid of failure; be afraid of petty success."
© Joella Marano/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0
ALEC BALDWIN (1958–) and brothers Daniel, Billy and Stephen
actor, producer, and comedian
"When they play 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' I get all choked up. I love my country."
© Yousuf Karsh / Library and Archives Canada / PA-212506
HUMPHREY BOGART (1899–1957)
movie actor
"On himself: "Democrat in politics, Episcopalian by upbringing, dissenter by disposition."
© Andre Portfolio / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
JORDANA BREWSTER (1980–)
actress and model
"Women always want to be something they're not. If you're the pretty girl, you want to be the quirky girl. If you're the smart girl, you want to be the pretty girl."
painting by D. Huntington / CC Brooklyn Museum 01.1507
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794–1878)
poet, journalist, and magazine editor
"Reach for the moon, because if you don't make it you'll land among the stars."
Public Domain
WARREN BUFFETT (1930–)
business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
© David Valdez / Library of Congress/ LC-USZC4-1701
BARBARA BUSH (1925–2018)
U.S. First Lady, wife of Pres. George H. Bush
"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."
© David Valdez / Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-98302
PRES. GEORGE H. BUSH (1924–2018)
41st U.S. President
"This is America...a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky."
© Eric Draper/ Library of Congress/ LC-DIG-ppbd-00371
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH (1946–)
43rd U.S. President
"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America."
©Daniel Benavides/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
JOHN CENA (1977–)
pro wrestler and actor
“I'm fine with being beat-up and pushed around, but I'm really scared of heights and scared of ledges.”
Photo 106751585 © Laurence Agron / Dreamstime.com
CHEVY CHASE (1943–)
actor, comedian, writer, and producer
"I went to college with every intention of being a doctor. I was redirected by my grades."
courtesy of PBS.org/ Cook for Julia
JULIA CHILD (1912–2004)
chef, author, and television personality
"How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?"
Photo by Yousuf Karsh/ Public Domain
WINSTON CHURCHILL (1874–1965)
United Kingdom Prime Minister
“I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
Glenn Close News/ Flickr/ CC 2.0
GLENN CLOSE (1947–)
TV, movIe, and stage actress
"Listen to your inner voice.' A lot of times what that inner voice tells you is not the easiest thing to do. But don't override that voice, because that's who you really are."
Glenn Close News/ Flickr/ CC 2.0
JENNIFER COOLIDGE (1961–)
TV and movIe actress
"Listen to your inner voice.' A lot of times what that inner voice tells you is not the easiest thing to do. But don't override that voice, because that's who you really are."
© Kingkongphoto & celebrity-photos.com/ CC BY-SA 2.0
CINDY CRAWFORD (1966–)
model and actress
"I'm aware that I don't look the same as I did when I was 25, but I bring experience and confidence in front of the camera that I didn't have then."
FDR Library/ PD-USgov/ 195573
BING CROSBY (1903–1977)
singer and actor, known for "White Christmas"
[Asked to describe himself] "I’d say he sang a fair song and in tune most of the time."
© Ibsan73 / CC BY 2.0
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (1976–)
actor
“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I’m also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.”
Photo 46068752 © Jaguarps - Dreamstime.com
MATT DAMON (1970–)
actor, producer, and screenwriter
"If you can’t help people, then what is the point of being successful?'
© Rob DiCaterino/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
TED DANSON (1947–)
actor, author, and producer
"Acting is pretending that you're not pretending when you're actually pretending."
© celebrityabc / CC BY-SA 3.0
ELLEN DEGENERES (1958–)
comedienne and TV personality
“Never follow anyone else's path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then by all means follow that path.”
AMELIA EARHART (1897–c 1937)
aviator
"Never interupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done."
photo courtesy of George Eastman House pressroom
GEORGE EASTMAN (1854–1932)
Eastman Kodak inventor
"What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines who we are."
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center/ ECN-15248/ PD-USGov-NASA
CLINT EASTWOOD (1930–)
actor, director, and producer
"I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live."
Photo 22662579 © Featureflash / Dreamstime.com
ZAC EFRON (1987–)
actor and singer
"I know I've been lucky. But it's what you do with that luck afterwards that really defines whether you stick around."
© Ralph PH/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
BILLIE EILISH (2001–)
singer and songwriter
“People have so much going on in their heads. I’m like, if you could write a song, you’d feel so much better."
Library of Congress/ LC-DIG-pga-01425
RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803–1882)
poet, essayist, and lecturer
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
painting by Ole Balling/ © cliff1066/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
PRES. JAMES A. GARFIELD (1831–1881)
20th U.S. President
"The chief duty of government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people."
© Christopher Macsurak/ CC BY SA-4.0
KAIA GERBER (2001–)
model and actress
"I can get ready in five minutes, but getting out of bed takes forever."
© spaceodissey/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0/
RICHARD GERE (1949–)
actor and humanitarian activist
"I have a tendency to wander off and do my own thing. I’m a bit of a dreamer."
Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-13018
PRES. ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822–1885)
18th U.S. President
"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."
© William Notman/ Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-72116
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL (1849–1938)
Audobon Society founder, anthropologist, naturalist, and writer
"We are a water-drinking people, and we are allowing every brook to be defiled."
© Nicholas Genin/ CC BY SA-2.0
ETHAN HAWKE (1970–)
actor, director, screenwriter, and novelist
“You don't need other people to affirm that you're a valuable person.”
© Great Gabbot/ CC BY SA-2.0
MAYA HAWKE (1998–)
actress and model
"It's very ordinary to pursue a career that your parents do, but when it's in the public eye, it becomes a complicated thing.”
© Glenn Francis/ www.PacificProDigital.com/ CC BY-SA 3.0
HUGH HEFNER (1926–2017)
Playboy Enterprises founder
"Life is too short to be living somebody else's dream."
Public Domain
ERNEST HEMINGWAY (1899–1961)
novelist, short story-writer, and journalist
"There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges."
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/ Public Domain-US-not renewed
KATHARINE HEPBURN (1907–2003)
movie actress
"Life is hard. After all, it kills you."
© Josh Hallett / Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
VANESSA HUDGENS (1988–)
TV, movie, and stage actress
"I love finding things that scare me and doing them. That's how you grow."
© Eva Rinaldi/ CC BY-SA 2.0
LILY JAMES (1989–)
TV and movie actress
"Growing up, I was always prancing around and singing...and I just never really stopped."
Photo 51586570 © Dwong1 / Dreamstime.com
ASHLEY JUDD (1968–)
movie actress
"I have an unshakable conviction that we are all One Being, created by a loving God."
© Lara Goncalves/ CC BY 2.0
AVRIL LAVIGNE (1984–)
singer and songwriter
“You can’t see the world through a mirror.”
© Alex Archambault/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD (1938–)
actor
“Time travel is a fantasy we all have."
painting by Wm Marshall/ Library of Congress/ LC-DIG-det-4a26272
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (1807–1882)
poet and educator
"Into each life some rain must fall."
© Gage Skidmore/ CC BY 2.0/
SETH MACFARLANE (1973–)
actor, animator, writer, & producer
"I was about two years old when I first started drawing recognizable characters."
painting by Wm Marshall/ Library of Congress/ LC-DIG-det-4a26272
GEN. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN (1826–1885)
U.S. military commander, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician
"There is only one safe rule in war i.e. to decide what is the very worst thing that can happen to you and prepare to meet it."
© Alfred Eisenstaedt/ courtesy of Life Photo Archive
MARILYN MONROE (1926–1962)
actress and model
"No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't."
courtesy of Life Photo Archive
ANNA MARY "GRANDMA" MOSES (1860–1961)
artist
"Painting's not important. The important thing is keeping busy."
© Alfred Stieglitz/ www.metmuseum.org/ 1997.61.36
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE (1887–1986)
artist
"One cannot be an American by going about saying that one is an American. It is necessary to feel America, like America, love America and then work."
© David Shankbone/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0/
SARAH PALIN (1964–)
politician and author
"The right reason [for politics] is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it."
© Gordon Correll/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed
AARON PAUL (1979–)
TV and movie actor
"I grew up in a very loving home with great morals...My father's a Southern Baptist minister. I wasn't lighting cars on fire; I just wasn't."
Nationaal Archief Fotocollectie Anefo / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL
ANTHONY PERKINS (1932–1992)
actor
"I was in New York rehearsing for a play when the [Psycho] shower scene was filmed in Hollywood…I found it really scary. I was just as frightened as anybody else."
© David Shankbone/ CC BY 3.0
DAVID HYDE PIERCE (1959–)
stage, TV, and movie actor
"My dad had been an actor...his dad had been an actor, and my great-grandfather had been an actor. And who knows before then?”
courtesy of George Bush Presidential Library/ PD-USGov-Congress
VICE PRES. DAN QUAYLE (1947–)
44th U.S. Vice President
"The future will be better tomorrow.”
© J. B. Frankel/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 3.0
CHRISTOPHER REEVE (1952–2004)
actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and activist
"A hero is an ordinary person who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
Cokie Roberts/ Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives
COKIE ROBERTS (1943–2019)
journalist and author
"As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school."
© David H. Kennerly/ Gerald Ford Library/ A4527-19/ PD-USGov
VICE PRES. NELSON ROCKEFELLER (1908–1979)
41st U.S. Vice-President
"America is not just a power, it is a promise."
Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-111591/ PD-NYWT&S
NORMAN ROCKWELL (1894–1978)
artist
"If a picture [painting] wasn't going very well, I'd put a puppy in it."
© J. Schloss/ Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-17631
EDITH ROOSEVELT (1861–1948)
U.S. First Lady, wife of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
"I think imagination is one of the greatest blessings of life..."
© Elias Goldensky/ Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-117121
PRES. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (1882–1945)
32nd U.S. President
"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on."
Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-78483/ PD-US
LILLIAN RUSSELL (1861–1922)
actress and singer
"We all have a fear of the unknown. What one does with that fear will make all the difference in the world."
NASA Johnson Space Center/ S70-55387/ PD-USGov-NASA
ALAN SHEPARD (1923–1998)
astronaut
"They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one."
© Bill Lile/ Flickr/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
GRACE SLICK (1939–)
musician, Jefferson Airplane
"When you get older, it's not about what you did that you regret, it's what you didn't do."
© David H. Kennerly/ Gerald Ford Library/ A4527-19/ PD-USGov
JOSEPH SMITH (1805–1844)
founder, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon)
"If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to myself."
courtesy of State Archives of Florida/ Florida Memory/ PR22287
DR. BENJAMIN SPOCK (1903–1998)
pediatrician and author
"There are only two things a child will share willingly: communicable diseases and its mother's age."
Photo 26360507 © Featureflash / Dreamstime.com
TAYLOR SWIFT (1989–)
singer and songwriter
"If you're horrible to me, I'm going to write a song about it, and you won't like it. That's how I operate."
painting by J. Lambdin/ © cliff1066/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0/
PRES. ZACHARY TAYLOR (1784–1850)
12th U.S. President
"The patriots who formed [this country] have long since descended to the grave, yet still it remains, the proudest monument to their memory."
Library of Congress/ LC-USZ61-361/ PD-US
HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817–1862)
author, poet, philosopher, naturalist, and historian
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
celebrityabc/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
KATE UPTON (1992–)
model and actress
“You find your strengths and play them up.”
© Dave Malkoff/ Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY 3.0
DICK VAN DYKE (1925–)
actor, comedian, writer, singer, dancer, and producer
"Hope is life's essential nutrient, and love is what gives life meaning."
Hulton Archive/ Getty Images
JOHN WAYNE (1907–1979)
movie actor
“We've created a form, the Western, that can be understood in every country. The good guys against the bad guys.”
painting by J. Herring/ © Billy Hathorn/ Flickr/ CC BY 3.0
NOAH WEBSTER (1758–1843)
dictionary publisher, editor, and author
"Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, 'just men who will rule in the fear of God.'"
RAQUEL WELCH (1940–2023)
actress
"I was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one."
© Carl Van Vechten/ Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-119765
ORSON WELLES (1915–1985)
actor, director, writer, and producer
"Living in the lap of luxury isn't bad, except that you never know when luxury is going to stand up."
courtesy of Encyclopedia of the Great Plains/ PD-US
LAURA INGALLS WILDER (1867–1957)
author, Little House on the Prairie
"Did you ever think how a bit of land shows the character of the owner?"
© Orlando Fernandez/ Library of Congress/ LC-USZ62-128957/
"TENNESSEE" WILLIAMS (1911–1983)
playwright and screenwriter
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
Heal the Bay/ Flickr/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
BRIAN WILSON (1942–)
musician, The Beach Boys
"I believe that music is God's voice."
20th Century Fox publicity photo/ Wikimedia Commons/ PD-US-not renewed
JOANNE WOODWARD (1930–)
actress, producer, philanthropist, and wife of Paul Newman
"Sexiness wears thin after awhile and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, that's a real treat."