Politicians' Previous Jobs

Before Political Life

Politicians' Previous Jobs, Before political life. As the recent sexual harassment allegations against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain illustrate, pre-political history can haunt or help a candidate. We take a look at the lives of political leaders before they detoured into politics ­-- from actors to athletes, musicians to musclemen.

Jimmie Davis

Years in office: 1944 to 1948 and 1960 to 1964

Office: Former governor of Louisiana, Democrat


Political life: He served two nonconsecutive terms as governor and attempted, but failed, to enforce these controversial policies.

Helen Gahagan Douglas


Years in office: 1945 to 1951

Office: Former U.S. representative, California, Democrat

Political life: The three-term congresswoman was the first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California. During her time in office, she had an affair with a senator who later became president.

Jack Kemp


Years in office: 1971 to 1993

Office: Former U.S. housing secretary and U.S. representative, New York, Republican


Political life: The nine-term congressman served as housing secretary and was the Republican vice presidential nominee in the 1996 election.

Previous gig: Kemp took more than a pass at a pre-political career.

John Glenn

Years in office: 1974 to 1999

Office: Former U.S. senator, Ohio, Democrat

Political life: Glenn was a potential three-time vice presidential running mate who also ran for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination but lost to a veteran politician.

Previous gig: Glenn's pre-political career was out of this world.

Bill Bradley

Years in office: 1979 to 1997

Office: Former U.S. senator, New Jersey, Democrat

Political life: The three-term senator was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000.

Previous gig: The former Rhodes scholar was a court standout before entering politics.

Ronald Reagan

Years in office: 1981 to 1989

Office: 40th president of the United States, Republican

Political life: The former governor of California defeated the incumbent to win his first presidential race. He was re-elected in a landslide in 1984.

Clint Eastwood

Years in office: 1986 to 1988

Office: Former mayor, Carmel, Calif.; Libertarian

Political life: The one-term mayor served two years and later was appointed to the California State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Fred Grandy


Years in office: 1987 to 1995

Office: Former U.S. representative, Iowa, Republican

Political life: He had been a U.S. representative for nearly a decade when he gave up his seat to run for another post and ultimately lost.


Previous gig: He was accustomed to being in the spotlight before entering politics.

Jim Bunning

Years in office: 1987 to 2011

Office: U.S. representative and senator, Kentucky, Republican


Political life: The five-term congressman won his U.S. Senate seat in 2004 but did not seek re-election in 2010.

Previous gig: He roared into his first career.

Shirley Temple Black

Years in office: 1989 to 1992

Office: Former U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Republican

Political life: She was appointed representative to the United Nations and later ambassador to Ghana before serving in her Czech post.

Ben L. Jones

Years in office: 1989 to 1993

Office: Former U.S. representative, Georgia, Democrat
Political life: The two-term congressman failed to win re-election in 1992 and again in 1994.

Herman Cain

Years in office: 1992 to 1996

Office: Former chairman and deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, Republican


Political life: Cain announced on May 21 his candidacy for the 2010 Republican presidential nomination. By mid-October he was inching his way up in the polls, closing in on front-runner Mitt Romney, but allegations of sexual harassment could tank his poll numbers.

Sonny Bono

Years in office: 1995 to 1998

Office: Former U.S. representative, California, Republican

Political life: The former mayor advocated the restoration of this lake during his one term in office.

Jesse Ventura

Years in office: 1999 to 2003

Office: Former governor of Minnesota, Independent


Political life: The former mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minn., he won the gubernatorial election in 1998 but chose not to seek election to a second term.

Tom Osborne

Years in office: 2001 to 2007

Office: Former U.S. representative, Nebraska, Republican

Political life: The three-term Nebraska congressman ran for governor of Nebraska in 2006 but lost the election to the incumbent.

Previous gig: He led the field before moving into politics.

Lynn Swann


Years in office: 2002 to 2005


Office: Former chairman, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Republican

Political life: After chairing the Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Swann ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006 but lost the election to the incumbent.

Previous gig: His early career helped steel him for politics.

Arnold Schwarzenegger


Years in office: 2003 to 2011

Office: Former governor of California, Republican

Political life: The two-term governor was first elected in 2003 in a special recall election. He was re-elected in 2006 and served as a full-term governor.

Previous gig: He muscled up in his pre-political career.

Heath Shuler

Years in office: 2007 to present

Office: U.S. representative, North Carolina, Democrat


Political life: The three-term congressman was resoundingly defeated in his 2010 bid to be House minority leader.

Previous gig: Before landing in Washington, D.C., he passed through several cities in his former career.

Dave Bing


Years in office: 2008 to present

Office: Detroit mayor, Democrat

Political life: Bing won his mayoral bid in a special election following the resignation of this beleaguered former mayor.

Al Franken

Years in office: 2009 to present

Office: U.S. senator, Minnesota, Democrat

Political life: He won his seat against the Republican incumbent in a tight race that required a mandatory statewide manual recount.