JIMMY CARTER

Born in 1924 in Plains,Ga., James E. Carter would serve his country as a naval officer, Georgia state senator, governor and later president.

In domestic affairs President Carter dealt with energy shortages by decontrolling domestic petroleum prices. He deregulated the trucking and airline industries, expanded the national park system and created the Department of Education.

On the foreign front, Carter helped broker peace between Egypt and Israel through the Camp David agreement of 1978. With his help countries involved ratified the Panama Canal treaties. However, the assault and subsequent 14-month holding of the U.S. embassy staff in Iran ultimately contributed to his defeat in the 1980 presidential election.

The former president has remained publicly active through his Emory University-based Carter Center since leaving office. In that time he has helped negotiate peaceful resolutions to problems worldwide, including areas such as North Korea and Haiti. His Center has observed elections and Carter has remained a prolific author, publishing nearly 20 books. His latest work, “Palestine: Peace not Apartheid,” has stirred controversy among his supporters and resignations from advisory board members of the Carter Center.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT

As the first female secretary of state in 1997, Madeleine Albright was the highest-ranking woman in the history of U.S. government.

Before the appointment, Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1994.

Former Secretary Albright also served as a member of President William Clinton’s Cabinet and National Security Council and was the President of the Center for National Policy.

HOWARD HENRY BAKER

A former senator from Tennessee, Baker served from 1967 to 1985 as a Republican. He also ran an unsuccessful bid against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination in 1980.

Baker served as chief of staff to President Reagan from 1987 to 1988. He is married to Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a former Senator from Kansas.

STEPHEN BREYER

Stephen Breyer began his work in law as a clerk for Associate Justice Arthur J. Goldberg. From 1965 to 1967, Breyer worked in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to the Assistant Attorney General Donald F. Turner.

Alternating between academics and public service, Breyer returned to serve as assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation in 1973.

President Carter nominated Breyer for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1980. In 1993, President Clinton nominated Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

ZBIGNIEW BREZINSKI

A Polish immigrant, Brezinski taught at Harvard and later led the new Institute on Communist Affairs at Columbia University.

He frequently advised both Kennedy and Johnson administration officials before joining the Carter presidential campaign as a foreign policy adviser.

President Carter appointed Brezinski as his national security adviser after the election.

ROSALYNN CARTER

Also from Plains, Rosalynn began dating Jimmy in 1945 during her freshman year at Georgia Southwestern College. In 1946, they were married.

Mother of four, Rosalynn supported Jimmy through his political career and managed many special projects during her husband’s presidency. She remained focused on the performing arts and programs to help with mental health, the community and the elderly.

She currently serves as vice chair of the Carter Center in Atlanta, continuing her promotion of greater access to mental care and key human rights issues.

NANCY LANDON KASSEBAUM

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a former Senator from Kansas, served in the Senate from 1978 to 1997. She chaired the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

She is married to former Senator Howard Henry Baker from Tennessee.

DONALD MCHENRY

A member of President Carter’s cabinet and U.S. deputy representative to the U.N. Security Council, McHenry served as U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations from September 1979 to January 1981.

McHenry is a Distinguished Professor in the practice of diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

WALTER MONDALE

A former senator from Minnesota and former Vice President of the United States, Mondale traveled extensively on behalf of the Carter administration, advancing its policies.

Mondale ran against then President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and was defeated. He was later chosen as U.S. ambassador to Japan and has since returned to his native Minnesota to head the Dorsey & Whitney Law Practice Group.

ROBERT A. PASTOR

Robert A. Pastor has served as a foreign policy advisor to each of the Democratic Presidential Candidates since 1976. President Bill Clinton nominated him as ambassador to Panama.

Pastor now works as the vice president of international affairs and professor of international relations at American University.

ROBERT E. RUBIN

The former secretary of the treasury first served in the White House from 1993 to 1995 as assistant to the president for economic policy.

Rubin was appointed secretary of the treasury on January 10, 1995 and served in that post until July 2, 1999.

STANSFIELD TURNER

A fellow 1946 Naval Academy graduate with President Carter, Stansfield Turner served under numerous posts in the Navy before reaching the rank of Admiral and commanding NATO’s Southern Flank.

President Carter appointed Turner as director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1977, a position he held until January of 1981.

BRIAN WILLIAMS

Brian Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. Williams replaced Tom Brokaw in 2004.

He previously served as the NBC’s chief correspondent at the White House and host of The News with Brian Williams on CNBC and MSNBC.

- Compiled by Todd South