James M. Cox (1870-1957) - Born near Dayton, Ohio, Cox was the editor-publisher of The Dayton Daily News and Springfield News prior to entering politics in 1908, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat. In 1913, Cox was elected governor. In 1920, he ran for president with Franklin Roosevelt; they were defeated by Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Cox returned to his career in journalism and purchased newspapers in Atlanta and Miami.

John Glenn (b. 1921) - Born near Cambridge, Ohio, Glenn enrolled in nearby Muskingum College in 1939. He left college early in 1942 to join the Navy to earn his airman's wings; he later transferred to the United States Marines. During World War II, Glenn flew fifty-nine bombing missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross on six separate occasions. In 1953 Glenn flew missions in the Korean conflict with major league baseball star Ted Williams as his wingman. In 1962, Glenn became the first man to orbit the earth on the Mercury-Atlas Six. In 1974, Glenn began his career in politics upon his election to the United States Senate as a Democrat. He played a prominent role in developing policies on nuclear weapons reduction, and supported such treaties as the SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), the Nuclear Non-proliferation Act of 1978, and the Nuclear Proliferation Control Act of 1992. Glenn ran for president in 1984, but withdrew from the race before the election. After being reelected to the United States Senate in 1986 and 1992, he became the first four-term senator from Ohio. On October 29, 1998 Glenn returned space on the space shuttle Discovery. He did not run for reelection in 1998.

Charles Henry Grosvenor (1833-1917) - Born in Pomfret, Connecticut, Grosvenor moved to Ohio in 1838. He served during the Civil War with the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.), and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1874-1878, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1885-1891 and 1893-1907.

Marcus Alonzo Hanna (1837-1904) - Born in New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio, Hanna moved to Cleveland in 1852. He attended Western Reserve College and became involved in a multitude of businesses, including wholesale groceries, iron, coal, Lake Erie shipping, and railroads. Hanna became one of the wealthiest industrialists in the area and boss of the Cleveland political machine responsible for electing President William McKinley. Hanna was chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1896 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1897-1904.

Nicholas Longworth (1869-1931) - Cincinnati native Longworth graduated from the University of Cincinnati law school in 1894 and began a career in politics in 1899 as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives representing the Republican Party. He served in the state House of Representatives until 1900, when he successfully ran for the Ohio Senate. Longworth was a U. S. Senator from 1903-1913 and 1915-1931, rising to the position of speaker of the house (Longworth was only the second Ohioan to become speaker). He married Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1906 at the White House.

Stanley Matthews (1824-1889) - Cincinnati native Matthews graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1840. He passed the bar in 1842 and returned to his hometown, where he served as assistant prosecuting attorney in 1845, editor of the Cincinnati Herald from 1846-1849, clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1848-1850, judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County from 1850-1852, member of the Ohio Senate from 1856-1857, and U.S. district attorney for southern Ohio from 1851-1858. During the Civil War, Matthews served with the Ohio Volunteers and rose to the rank of colonel. He then became a judge of the Cincinnati Superior Court from 1863-1864, U.S. senator from 1877-1879, and was nominated by President James Garfield for the position of associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1881, on which he served until his death.