Nebraska was the birthplace of only one US president, Gerald R. Ford (Leslie King, Jr., b.1913). When Spiro Agnew resigned the vice-presidency in October 1973, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Ford, then a US representative from Michigan, to the post. Upon Nixon's resignation on 9 August 1974, Ford became the first nonelected president in US history.
Four native and adoptive Nebraskans have served in the cabinet. J. Sterling Morton (b.New York, 1832–1902), who originated Arbor Day, was secretary of agriculture under Grover Cleveland. William Jennings Bryan (b.Illinois, 1860–1925), a US representative from Nebraska, served as secretary of state and was three times the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president. Frederick A. Seaton (b.Washington, 1909–74) was Dwight Eisenhower's secretary of the interior, and Melvin Laird (b.1922) was Richard Nixon's secretary of defense.
George W. Norris (b.Ohio, 1861–1944), the "fighting liberal," served 10 years in the US House of Representatives and 30 years in the Senate. Norris's greatest contributions were in rural electrification (his efforts led to the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority), farm relief, and labor reform; he also promoted the unicameral form of government in Nebraska. Theodore C. Sorensen (b.1928) was an adviser to President John F. Kennedy.
Indian leaders important in Nebraska history include Oglala Sioux chiefs Red Cloud (1822–1909) and Crazy Horse (1849?–77). Moses Kinkaid (b.West Virginia, 1854–1920) served in the US House and was the author of the Kinkaid Act, which encouraged homesteading in Nebraska. Educator and legal scholar Roscoe Pound (1870–1964) was also a Nebraskan. In agricultural science, Samuel Aughey (b.Pennsylvania, 1831–1912) and Hardy W. Campbell (b.Vermont, 1850–1937) developed dry-land farming techniques. Botanist Charles E. Bessey (b.Ohio, 1845–1915) encouraged forestation. Father Edward Joseph Flanagan (b.Ireland, 1886–1948) was the founder of Boys Town, a home for underprivileged youth. Two native Nebraskans became Nobel laureates in 1980: Lawrence R. Klein (b.1920) in economics and Val L. Fitch (b.1923) in physics.
Writers associated with Nebraska include Willa Cather (b.Virginia, 1873–1947), who used the Nebraska frontier setting of her childhood in many of her writings and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1922; author and poet John G. Neihardt (b.Illinois, 1881–1973), who incorporated Indian mythology and history in his work; Mari Sandoz (1901–66), who wrote of her native Great Plains; writer-photographer Wright Morris (1910–98); and author Tillie Olsen (b.1912). Rollin Kirby (1875–1952) won three Pulitzer Prizes for political cartooning. Composer-conductor Howard Hanson (1896–1982), born in Wahoo, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1944.
Nebraskans important in entertainment include actor-dancer Fred Astaire (Fred Austerlitz, 1899–1984); actors Harold Lloyd (1894–1971), Henry Fonda (1905–82), Robert Taylor (Spangler Arlington Brugh, (1911–69), Marlon Brando (b.1924), and Sandy Dennis (1937–93); television stars Johnny Carson (b.Iowa, 1925) and Dick Cavett (b.1936); and motion-picture producer Darryl F. Zanuck (1902–79).