Famous Compatriots

Throughout its 120-year history, SAR has admitted more than 170,000 members. Among them are 16 Presidents of the United States, including Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

Twenty Medal of Honor recipients are also compatriots, including the late Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., considered a founding father of the American Legion. World War II U.S. military compatriots include General Douglas McArthur and William F. Halsey II. Sir Winston Churchill and King Juan Carlos I of Spain, both who trace their ancestry to Revolutionary War patriots.

Notable compatriots have made their mark in many professions. Stephen Crane, recognized as one of the most important American writers of his generation. He won high acclaim in 1895 with the publication of the novel, “The Red Badge of Courage.” Members of SAR have presided over Congress and many of our states, including Vice President J. Danworth Quayle, who presided over the U.S. Senate from 1989-1993 and Haley Barbour, governor of the State of Mississippi from 2004-2012. Notable compatriots in the U.S. Congress includes U.S. Senator John McCain, U.S. Senator Scott Brown, U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senator Roger Witcher, U.S. Representative John Fleming, U.S. Representative Todd Akin, U.S. Representative Howard Coble, and U.S. Representative Ted Poe. Member of SAR have not only walked the halls of Congress but have walked on the moon. Col. Charles M. Duke, USAF, walked the moon in 1972 on the Apollo 16 mission.