George H. W. Bush

1982 Inaugural Citizen of the Year

Then Vice President George H.W. Bush was the Jefferson Islands Club Inaugural Citizen of the Year in 1982. He later served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993.

Andrew R. Wheeler

2020 Citizen of the Year

Andrew R. Wheeler is the 15th Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Roy Blunt

2019 Citizen of the Year

Roy Dean Blunt is a Senator or for Missouri, serving since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Cedric Richmond

2018 Co-Citizen of the Year

Cedric Levon Richmond is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who has been the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district since 2011. 

Steve Scalise

2018 Co-Citizen of the Year

Stephen Joseph Scalise is an American politician who is the United States House of Representatives Minority Whip and representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, serving since 2008. 

Ryan Zinke

2017 Citizen of the Year

Ryan Keith Zinke served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 2017 to 2019. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for Montana's at-large congressional district from 2015 to 2017.

Kevin Brady

2016 Citizen of the Year

Kevin Patrick Brady is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 8th congressional district, serving since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party. 

Martin Heinrich

2015 Co-Citizen of the Year

Martin Trevor Heinrich is an American politician and businessman serving as the junior United States Senator from New Mexico since 2013. A native of Fallon, Nevada, 

Cory Gardner

2015 Co-Citizen of the Year

Cory Scott Gardner has been Senator for Colorado since 2015. A Republican, he was the U.S. Representative from 2011 to 2015 and a member of the Colorado House from 2005 to 2011. 

Bill Shuster

2014 Co-Citizen of the Year

William Franklin Shuster is an American politician and lobbyist who served as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district from 2001 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Joe Manchin, III

2014 Co-Citizen of the Year

Joseph Manchin III has been a Senator from West Virginia since 2010. A Democratic, he was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005.

Dave Camp

2013 Citizen of the Year

David Lee Camp is a former American politician from Michigan who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2015. 

Paul Ryan

2012 Co-Citizen of the Year

Paul Davis Ryan is an American retired politician who served as the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from October 2015 to January 2019.

Ron Wyden

2012 Co-Citizen of the Year

Ronald Lee Wyden is the senior United States Senator for Oregon since 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the House from 1981 until 1996. 

Saxby Chambliss

2011 Co-Citizen of the Year

Clarence Saxby Chambliss was a United States Senator from Georgia from 2003 to 2015. As a member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a Representative from 1995 to 2003.

Mark Warner

2011 Co-Citizen of the Year

Mark Robert Warner has been a Senator from Virginia since  2008. He is a member of the Democratic Party and former Governor of Virginia.

Lisa Murkowski

2010 Citizen of the Year

Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. She is the second most senior Republican woman in the Senate.

Mary Landrieu

2009 Co-Citizen of the Year

Mary Loretta Landrieu is an American politician, entrepreneur, and former Senator for the state of Louisiana. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, 

James L. Jones, Jr

2009 Co-Citizen of the Year

James Logan Jones Jr. is a retired Marine Corps general and former United States National Security Advisor. He was the Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003.

Collin Peterson

2008 Co-Citizen of the Year

Collin Clark Peterson is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 7th congressional district since 1991. 

Howard Coble

2008 Co-Citizen of the Year

John Howard Coble was a U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 6th congressional district, serving from 1985 to 2015. He was a member of the Republican Party. 

Steny H. Hoyer

2007 Citizen of the Year

Steny Hamilton Hoyer has been Representative for Maryland's 5th congressional district since 1981 and as House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat, he was first elected in 1981, and is currently serving in his 20th term.

Jeff Bingaman

2006 Co-Citizen of the Year

Jesse “Jeff” Bingaman Jr. served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Pete Domenici

2006 Co-Citizen of the Year

Pietro Vichi Domenici was an American attorney and politician from New Mexico. A Republican, Domenici served six terms in the United States Senate, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history.

Duncan Hunter

2005 Citizen of the Year

Duncan Duane Hunter is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for California's 50th congressional district from 2013 to 2020. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Joe Barton

2004 Citizen of the Year

Joe Linus Barton is a Republican politician who represented Texas's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2019.

James M. Inhofe

2003 Citizen of the Year

James Mountain Inhofe is a senior United States Senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee, among others.

Ted Stevens

2002 Citizen of the Year

Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senator in history at the time he left office.

W.J. "Billy" Tauzin

2001 Citizen of the Year

Wilbert Joseph Tauzin II is an American lobbyist and politician. He was President and CEO of PhRMA, a pharmaceutical company lobby group. Tauzin was also a member of the House from 1980 to 2005.

John Breaux

1999 Co-Citizen of the Year

John Berlinger Breaux was a member of the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the US House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987.

Thad Cochran

1999 Co-Citizen of the Year

William Thad Cochran was a Senator for Mississippi from 1978 to 2018. A Republican, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978. 

John Dingle, Jr

1998 Citizen of the Year

John David Dingell Jr. served in the House of  Representatives from 1955 until 2015. A Democrat, he is the longest-ever serving member of Congress in history, representing Michigan for more than 59 years.

Trent Lott

1997 Citizen of the Year

Chester Trent Lott Sr. served in numerous leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He represented Mississippi in the House for 16 years before serving another 18  years as a Senator.

Bill Emerson

1996 Citizen of the Year

Norvell William Emerson of Missouri served in the House from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in Bethesda, Maryland in 1996. He was succeeded in the House by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson. 

Don Young

1995 Citizen of the Year

Donald Edwin Young is currently serving in his 24th term in the House, having served since 1973. A member of the Republican Party, he is the longest-serving member of the House.

Robert C Byrd

1994 Citizen of the Year

Robert Carlyle Byrd served as a United States Senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd previously served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959.

Jack Brooks

1993 Citizen of the Year

Jack Bascom Brooks was a Democrat from Texas who served 42 years in the House of Representatives from 1953 to 1995.  For over fifteen years, he was the dean of the Texas congressional delegation. 

Jamie Whitten

1991 Citizen of the Year

Jamie Lloyd Whitten was a Democrat from Mississippi in the House from 1941 to 1995. He was at the time of his departure the longest-serving Representative ever and the second-longest serving member of Congress.

Dick Cheney

1990 Citizen of the Year

Richard  "Dick" Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He has been cited as the most powerful vice president in American history.

Dan Rostenkowski

1989 Citizen of the Year

Daniel David Rostenkowski was a United States Representative from Chicago, serving from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Washington, especially in matters of taxation.

Dante Fascell

1987 Citizen of the Year

Dante Bruno Fascell was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Florida from 1955 to 1993.

Claude Pepper

1986 Citizen of the Year

Claude Denson Pepper represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1936 to 1951 and the Miami area in the United States House of Representatives from 1963 until 1989.

Jim Wright

1985 Citizen of the Year

James Claude Wright Jr. served as the 48th Speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas's 12th congressional district as a Democrat from 1955 to 1989.

John Tower

1984 Citizen of the Year

John Goodwin Tower was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction.

Caspar Weinberger

1983 Citizen of the Year

Caspar "Cap" Weinberger was a prominent Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, including Chairman of the California Republican Party, 1962–68.

George H.W. Bush

1982 Inaugural Citizen of the Year

Then Vice President, George H.W. Bush was the Jefferson Islands Club inaugural Citizen of the Year in 1982. He later served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993.