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The Most Famous

COMPANIONS from United States

This page contains a list of the greatest American Companions. The pantheon dataset contains 673 Companions, 17 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the 9th most number of Companions behind Austria and Denmark.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Companions of all time. This list of famous American Companions is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Companions.

1. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929 - 1994)

With an HPI of 76.56, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is the most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 72 different languages on wikipedia.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Kennedy Onassis (née Bouvier ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular first lady, she endeared the American public with her devotion to her family, dedication to the historic preservation of the White House, the campaigns she led to preserve and restore historic landmarks and architecture along with her interest in American history, culture and arts. During her lifetime, she was regarded as an international icon for her unique fashion choices, and her work as a cultural ambassador of the United States made her very popular globally. After studying history and art at Vassar College and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from George Washington University in 1951, Bouvier started working for the Washington Times-Herald as an inquiring photographer. The following year, she met then-Congressman John Kennedy at a dinner party in Washington. He was elected to the Senate that same year, and the couple married on September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Following her husband's election to the presidency in 1960, Kennedy was known for her highly publicized restoration of the White House and emphasis on arts and culture as well as for her style. She also traveled to many countries where her fluency in foreign languages and history made her very popular. At age 33, she was named Time magazine's Woman of the Year in 1962. After her husband's assassination and funeral in 1963, Kennedy and her children largely withdrew from public view. In 1968, she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, which caused controversy. Following Onassis's death in 1975, she had a career as a book editor in New York City, first at Viking Press and then at Doubleday, and worked to restore her public image. Even after her death, she ranks as one of the most popular and recognizable first ladies in American history, and in 1999, she was listed as one of Gallup's Most-Admired Men and Women of the 20th century. She died in 1994 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside President Kennedy and two of their children, one stillborn and one who died shortly after birth. Surveys of historians conducted periodically by the Siena College Research Institute since 1982 have consistently found Kennedy Onassis to rank among the most highly regarded first ladies by the assessments of historians.

2. Priscilla Presley (1945 - )

With an HPI of 65.19, Priscilla Presley is the 2nd most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Priscilla Ann Presley (née Wagner, formerly Beaulieu; born May 24, 1945) is an American businesswoman and actress. She is the ex-wife of the late American singer Elvis Presley, as well as the cofounder and former chairperson of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States. In her acting career, Presley costarred with Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun film trilogy and played Jenna Wade on the long-running television series Dallas.

3. Rosalynn Carter (1927 - 2023)

With an HPI of 62.10, Rosalynn Carter is the 3rd most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 54 different languages.

Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ROH-zə-lin; née Smith; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American writer, activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of public service, she was a leading advocate for women's rights and mental health.Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated as valedictorian of Plains High School, and soon after attended Georgia Southwestern College, where she graduated in 1946. She first became attracted to her future husband, also from Plains, after seeing a picture of him in his U.S. Naval Academy uniform, and they married in 1946. Carter helped her husband win the governorship of Georgia in 1970, and decided to focus her attention in the field of mental health when she was that state's first lady. She campaigned for her husband during his successful bid to become president of the United States in the 1976 election, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford. Carter was politically active during her husband's presidency, though she declared that she had no intention of being a traditional first lady. During his term of office, Carter supported her husband's public policies as well as his social and personal life. To remain fully informed, she sat in on Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the President. Carter also represented her husband in meetings with domestic and foreign leaders, including as an envoy to Latin America in 1977. He found her to be an equal partner. She campaigned for his re-election bid in the 1980 election, which he lost to Republican Ronald Reagan. After leaving the White House in 1981, Carter continued to advocate for mental health and other causes, wrote several books, and became involved in the national and international work of the Carter Center. She and her husband also contributed to the expansion of the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. In 1987, she founded the Institute for Caregivers, to inform and support the efforts of caregivers. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside her husband in 1999.

4. Martha Washington (1731 - 1802)

With an HPI of 61.26, Martha Washington is the 4th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 57 different languages.

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 O.S. — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the inaugural first lady of the United States, defining the role of the president's wife and setting many precedents that future first ladies would observe. During her tenure, she was referred to as "Lady Washington". Washington is consistently ranked in the upper half of first ladies by historians. Martha Dandridge married Daniel Parke Custis on May 15, 1750, and the couple had four children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. She was widowed in 1757 at the age of 26, inheriting a large estate. She was remarried to George Washington in 1759, moving to his plantation, Mount Vernon. Her youngest daughter died of epilepsy in 1773, and the Washingtons were unable to conceive any children of their own. Washington became a symbol of the American Revolution after her husband was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and she took on a matronly role while visiting encampments when fighting stalled each winter. Her only surviving child, John, died from a camp illness during the war. After the war ended in 1783, Washington sought retirement at Mount Vernon, but she was returned to public life when her husband became president of the United States in 1789. Washington took on the social role of the president's wife reluctantly, becoming a national celebrity in the process. She found this life unpleasant, feeling that she was restricted and wishing for retirement. In addition to hosting weekly social events, Washington understood that how she composed herself would reflect on the nation, both domestically and abroad. As such, she struck a careful balance between the dignity associated with a head of state's wife and the humility associated with republican government. The Washingtons returned to Mount Vernon in 1797, and she spent her retirement years greeting admirers and advising her successors. She was widowed for a second time in 1799, and she died two and a half years later in 1802.

5. Linda McCartney (1941 - 1998)

With an HPI of 60.28, Linda McCartney is the 5th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney (née Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer and musician. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Wings that also featured her husband, Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Linda began a career as a photographer, landing with Town & Country, where she soon gained assignments to photograph various musicians and entertainers. By the late 1960s, she was a regular fixture at the Fillmore East, a New York concert venue, where she became the unofficial house photographer capturing numerous performances at the legendary club, and was the first woman to have a photograph on the cover of the influential music magazine Rolling Stone. Her photographs were displayed in galleries and museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, and were collected in several books. Linda had been learning to play keyboards from her husband, and after the 1970 breakup of the Beatles, Paul and Linda recorded the album Ram together, and they formed the band Wings in 1971. She continued to play alongside Paul following Wings' breakup in 1981 up until The New World Tour in 1993. She was an animal rights activist and wrote and published several vegetarian cookbooks. She founded the vegetarian Linda McCartney Foods company with her husband. In 1995, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died from the disease three years later at the age of 56.

6. Mary Todd Lincoln (1818 - 1882)

With an HPI of 59.96, Mary Todd Lincoln is the 6th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) served as the first lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning Kentucky family. She was well educated. Born Mary Ann Todd, she dropped the name Ann after her younger sister, Ann Todd (later Clark), was born. After finishing-school during her teens, she moved to Springfield, Illinois, where she lived with her married sister Elizabeth Edwards. Before she married Abraham Lincoln, she was courted by his long-time political opponent Stephen A. Douglas. Mary Lincoln staunchly supported her husband throughout his presidency and was active in keeping national morale high during the Civil War. She acted as the White House social coordinator, throwing lavish balls and redecorating the White House at great expense; her spending was the source of much consternation. She was seated next to Abraham when he was assassinated in the President's Box at Ford's Theatre on Tenth Street in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. The Lincolns had four sons of whom only the eldest, Robert, survived both parents. The deaths of her husband and three of her sons weighed heavily on her. Mary Lincoln suffered from numerous physical and mental health problems during her life. She had frequent migraines, which were exacerbated by a head injury in 1863. She was depressed for much of her life; some historians think she may have had bipolar disorder. She was briefly institutionalized for psychiatric disease in 1875, but later retired to the home of her sister. She died in 1882 at age 63.

7. Mamie Eisenhower (1896 - 1979)

With an HPI of 59.60, Mamie Eisenhower is the 7th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Mary Geneva "Mamie" Eisenhower (née Doud; November 14, 1896 – November 1, 1979) was the first lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 as the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Born in Boone, Iowa, she was raised in a wealthy household in Colorado. She married Eisenhower, then a lieutenant in the United States Army, in 1916. She kept house and served as hostess for military officers as they moved between various postings in the United States, Panama, the Philippines, and France. Their relationship was complicated by his regular absences on duty and by the death of their firstborn son at the age of three. She became a prominent figure during World War II as General Eisenhower's wife. As first lady, Eisenhower was given near total control over the expenses and scheduling of the White House. She closely managed the staff, and her frugality was apparent in White House budgeting throughout her tenure. She entertained many foreign heads of state in her role as hostess. She showed little interest in politics and was rarely involved in political discussion, though she did support soldiers' welfare and civil rights causes. She had poor balance due to Ménière's disease, giving rise to rumors of alcoholism. She was a popular first lady, and recognized as a fashion icon, known for her iconic bangs and frequent use of the color pink. The Eisenhowers were married for 52 years, until Dwight's death in 1969. She spent most of her retirement and widowhood at the family farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, before returning to Washington in her final years, where she died in 1979.

8. Pat Nixon (1912 - 1993)

With an HPI of 59.37, Pat Nixon is the 8th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (née Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the first lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the second lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 when her husband was vice president. Born in Ely, Nevada, she grew up with her two brothers in what is now Cerritos, California, graduating from Excelsior Union High School in Norwalk, California in 1929. She attended Fullerton Junior College and later the University of Southern California. She paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs, including pharmacy manager, typist, radiographer, and retail clerk. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon and they had two daughters, Tricia and Julie. Dubbed the "Nixon team", Richard and Pat Nixon campaigned together in his successful congressional campaigns of 1946 and 1948. Richard Nixon was elected vice president in 1952 alongside General Dwight D. Eisenhower, whereupon Pat became Second Lady. Pat Nixon did much to add substance to the role of Second Lady, insisting on visiting schools, orphanages, hospitals, and village markets as she undertook many missions of goodwill across the world. As First Lady, Pat Nixon promoted a number of charitable causes, including volunteerism. She oversaw the collection of more than 600 pieces of historic art and furnishings for the White House, an acquisition larger than that of any other administration. She was the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history, a record unsurpassed until twenty-five years later. She accompanied the President as the first First Lady to visit China and the Soviet Union, and was the first president's wife to be officially designated a representative of the United States on her solo trips to Africa and South America, which gained her recognition as "Madame Ambassador"; she was also the first First Lady to enter a combat zone. Though her husband was re-elected in a landslide victory in 1972, her tenure as First Lady ended two years later, when President Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. Her public appearances became increasingly rare later in life. She and her husband settled in San Clemente, California, and later moved to New Jersey. She suffered two strokes, one in 1976 and another in 1983, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992. She died in 1993, aged 81.

9. Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)

With an HPI of 57.41, Abigail Adams is the 9th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Abigail Adams (née Smith; November 22, [O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. She was a founder of the United States, and was both the first second lady and second first lady of the United States, although such titles were not used at the time. She and Barbara Bush are the only two women in American history who were both married to a U.S. president and the mother of a U.S. president.Adams's life is one of the most documented of the first ladies; many of the letters she wrote to her husband John Adams while he was in Philadelphia as a delegate in the Continental Congress prior and during the American Revolution document the closeness and versatility of their relationship. John Adams frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. Her letters also serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front. Surveys of historians conducted periodically by the Siena College Research Institute since 1982 have consistently found Adams to rank as one of the three most highly regarded first ladies by historians.

10. Neilia Hunter Biden (1942 - 1972)

With an HPI of 54.75, Neilia Hunter Biden is the 10th most famous American Companion. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Neilia Hunter Biden (July 28, 1942 – December 18, 1972) was an American teacher and the first wife of Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States. She died in a car crash in 1972 with their one-year-old daughter, Naomi. Their two sons, Beau and Hunter, were critically injured but survived the incident. Her death occurred six weeks after her husband's election to the U.S. Senate.

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as companions born between 1731 and 1957. Of these 17, 3 (17.65%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living companions include Priscilla Presley, Karen Pence, and Ann Romney. The most famous deceased companions include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Rosalynn Carter, and Martha Washington. As of April 2022, 1 new companions have been added to Pantheon including Neilia Hunter Biden.