A–Z index
All 973 people, filed by surname.
48 people
Al Pacino b. 1940Arts & LettersLegendary actor whose roles in The Godfather and Scarface made him an icon of American cinema.
Larry Page b. 1973Technology & BuildingCo-founder of Google whose search algorithm became the foundation of the modern internet economy.
Thomas Paine 1737–1809Ideas & MediaPamphleteer whose Common Sense and Crisis essays mobilized American public opinion for independence.
Arnold Palmer 1929–2016Frontier & SportGolfer whose charisma and television popularity helped turn golf into a mass spectator sport.
Charlie Parker 1920–1955Arts & LettersSaxophonist whose virtuosity and harmonic innovations made him a principal creator of bebop and modern jazz.
Quanah Parker 1845–1911Reform & RightsLast Comanche war leader who became a reservation-era negotiator and figure in the Native American Church.
Gordon Parks 1912–2006Arts & LettersPhotographer for Life magazine and first Black director of a major Hollywood studio film.
Rosa Parks 1913–2005Reform & RightsCivil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Lucy Parsons 1851–1942Business & LaborRadical labor organizer and writer who advocated for workers, free speech, and racial and gender equality over seven decades.
Dolly Parton b. 1946Arts & LettersCountry music legend whose Imagination Library has donated over 200 million books to children.
George S. Patton 1885–1945Government & PoliticsArmored commander whose aggressive leadership made him one of the most prominent American generals of World War II.
Alice Paul 1885–1977Reform & RightsStrategist of the final campaign for women's suffrage and author of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment.
Linus Pauling 1901–1994Science & MedicineChemist and peace activist who won two unshared Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Peace.
Norman Vincent Peale 1898–1993Ideas & MediaMinister whose bestselling positive-thinking message joined American Protestantism with modern self-help culture.
Robert Peary 1856–1920Frontier & SportNaval officer who led the disputed 1909 expedition that claimed to have reached the North Pole.
I. M. Pei 1917–2019Technology & BuildingArchitect whose monumental modern buildings reshaped American civic and cultural architecture.
Nancy Pelosi b. 1940Government & PoliticsFirst female Speaker of the House who shepherded major healthcare and economic legislation.
William Penn 1644–1718Government & PoliticsFounder of Pennsylvania who advanced representative government and religious toleration in colonial America.
Frances Perkins 1880–1965Business & LaborFirst woman in a presidential cabinet and labor secretary who helped create Social Security, minimum-wage, and workplace protections.
Radia Perlman b. 1951Technology & BuildingDesigned the spanning tree protocol that made large bridged Ethernet networks practical.
Ross Perot 1930–2019Government & PoliticsData-processing billionaire whose 1992 independent run won nearly a fifth of the vote.
John J. Pershing 1860–1948Government & PoliticsCommander of the American Expeditionary Forces who built and led the U.S. Army in World War I.
Richard Petty b. 1937Frontier & SportSeven-time NASCAR champion whose career helped establish stock-car racing as a national sport.
Michael Phelps b. 1985Frontier & SportSwimmer who won 23 Olympic gold medals, the most by any athlete in history.
Sundar Pichai b. 1972Technology & BuildingCEO of Alphabet and Google who oversees the world's dominant search engine and AI research.
Franklin Pierce 1804–1869Government & PoliticsFourteenth president whose support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act deepened the sectional crisis over slavery.
Zebulon Pike 1779–1813Frontier & SportArmy officer who led expeditions to the Southwest and after whom Pikes Peak is named.
Gifford Pinchot 1865–1946Reform & RightsFirst chief of the U.S. Forest Service and leading advocate of scientific conservation and managed public lands.
Steven Pinker b. 1954Ideas & MediaCognitive psychologist and linguist whose books argue that reason and science have driven human progress.
Brad Pitt b. 1963Arts & LettersActor and producer whose roles in Fight Club and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood made him a global star.
Sylvia Plath 1932–1963Arts & LettersPoet and novelist whose confessional works, including The Bell Jar, broke new ground for women's writing.
Pocahontas 1596–1617Reform & RightsPowhatan woman whose life and later myth became central to American narratives of early colonization.
Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849Arts & LettersMaster of macabre fiction and poetry who invented the detective story and influenced horror worldwide.
Sidney Poitier 1927–2022Arts & LettersFirst Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, breaking barriers in Hollywood.
James K. Polk 1795–1849Government & PoliticsEleventh president whose expansionist policies added the Southwest and Oregon to the United States.
Jackson Pollock 1912–1956Arts & LettersAbstract expressionist whose drip painting technique revolutionized modern art.
Cole Porter 1891–1964Arts & LettersComposer and lyricist of Broadway standards including Anything Goes and Kiss Me Kate.
Terence V. Powderly 1849–1924Business & LaborLed the Knights of Labor as it became the first mass national labor organization in the United States.
Colin Powell 1937–2021Government & PoliticsGeneral, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and secretary of state who shaped post-Cold War military and diplomatic policy.
Jerome Powell b. 1953Ideas & MediaFederal Reserve chair who steered monetary policy through the pandemic and the inflation surge that followed.
John Wesley Powell 1834–1902Frontier & SportGeologist and explorer who led the first documented passage through the Grand Canyon.
Powhatan 1547–1618Reform & RightsParamount chief whose confederacy confronted the first permanent English colony at Jamestown.
Elvis Presley 1935–1977Arts & LettersThe King of Rock and Roll whose music and style revolutionized American popular culture.
Prince 1958–2016Arts & LettersSinger, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose innovation and fight for artistic control influenced generations.
Stanley Prusiner b. 1942Science & MedicineNeurologist who discovered prions, establishing a new biological mechanism for infectious neurodegenerative disease.
Richard Pryor 1940–2005Arts & LettersComedian whose candid treatment of race, class, addiction, and personal experience transformed American stand-up.
Joseph Pulitzer 1847–1911Ideas & MediaPublisher who transformed mass-circulation journalism and endowed the Pulitzer Prizes.
Ernie Pyle 1900–1945Ideas & MediaWar correspondent whose columns on infantry life defined American reporting of the Second World War.