'Bob the Rebuilder' and other Scholars prominent in elective office globally
Bob Rae (Ontario & Balliol 1969) - dubbed 'Bob the Rebuilder' - has been elected leader of the Liberal Party in Canada, joining several other Rhodes Scholars who hold high elective office around the world.
Bob Rae was re-elected to Parliament for his riding of Toronto Centre in the May 2011 elections, and has subsequently been elected as interim leader of the Liberal Party, with a focus on rebuilding the party after its major electoral losses. He succeeds Michael Ignatieff, son of a Rhodes Scholar, George Ignatieff (Ontario & New College 1936).
Bob Rae was previously Opposition critic on foreign affairs. His 2010 book, Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea, has been featured on this website.
The last Rhodes Scholar to lead a Canadian political party at the federal level was John Turner (British Columbia & Magdalen 1949), who was Prime Minister of Canada in 1984, and then Opposition Leader until 1990.
During the Canadian election campaign, a Rhodes Scholar who had served as the NDP Premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, Allan Blakeney (Nova Scotia & Queen's 1947), passed away. Bob Rae wrote a moving tribute to him, and the federal leader of the NDP, Jack Layton, dedicated his campaign to Allan Blakeney's memory. (For further tributes to Allan Blakeney, click here.)
The Rhodes Scholar to serve most recently as Premier of a Canadian province is Danny Williams (Newfoundland & Keble 1969), who served as the Progressive Conservative Premier of Newfoundland from 2003 to December 2010. 
Over the decades, many Rhodes Scholars have held elective public office in many countries. Today, Rhodes Scholars holding high elective office, or running for office, around the world include:
- Delroy Chuck (Jamaica & St Catherine's 1973), who is a Member of Parliament in Jamaica - and who in late June 2011 was appointed Minister of Justice in the Jamaican government.
- Tony Abbott (New South Wales & Queen's 1981), who is leader of the Liberal Party and Opposition Leader in the Australian Parliament. He succeeded Malcolm Turnbull (New South Wales & Brasenose 1978) in this role. Before them, Kim Beazley (Western Australia & Balliol 1973), served as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Opposition Leader for a number of years, and is now the Australian Ambassador to the United States. The most recent Rhodes Scholar to head a government in Australia is Geoff Gallop (Western Australia & St John's 1972), who was Labor Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006.
- Raymond Lim (Singapore & Balliol 1984), who was re-elected to the Singapore Parliament for the People's Action Party, and Chen Show-Mao (Singapore & Corpus Christi 1986), who was elected for the Workers' Party, in the May 2011 elections. Until the election, Raymond Lim also served as Minister for Transport.
- Gamini Peiris (Ceylon & New College 1968), who is the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.
- Wasim Sajjad (Pakistan & Wadham 1964), serves in the Senate of Pakistan, where he has until recently been Opposition Leader in the Senate. He has previously served twice as interim President of Pakistan, and is the National Secretary to the Rhodes Trust for Pakistan.
- Elias Chipimo, Jr (Zambia & Oriel 1990), who is running for president of Zambia, and who spoke earlier this year at Rhodes House on his vision for leadership in Africa's future. His book, Unequal to the task? Awakening a new generation of leaders in Africa (2011) has been featured on this website.
- Arthur Mutambara (Zimbabwe & Merton 1991), who is Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in the 'power-sharing' government.
- Gareth Morgan (South Africa-at-Large & Linacre 2000), who is the Shadow Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in South Africa.
- Richard Lugar (Indiana & Pembroke 1954) and David Vitter (Louisiana & Magdalen 1983), who are members of the United States Senate, both as Republicans, for Indiana and Louisiana respectively. Senator Lugar is seeking re-election to the Senate in 2012, and Senator Vitter was re-elected in 2010. A Rhodes classmate of Senator Lugar's, Paul Sarbanes (Maryland & Balliol 1954), represented Maryland in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 2007, as a Democrat. Russ Feingold (Wisconsin & Magdalen 1975), who represented Wisconsin in the Senate from 1993 to 2011 as a Democrat, recently spoke at Rhodes House on the implications of the Supreme Court case Citizens United.
- Jim Cooper (Tennessee & Oriel 1975) and Jim Himes (New Jersey & St Edmund Hall 1988), who were both re-elected last November as members of the U.S. House of Representatives, from Tennessee and Connecticut respectively (both as Democrats).
- Heather Wilson (New Hampshire & Jesus 1982), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from New Mexico from 1998 to 2009, and who is seeking the Republican nomination in New Mexico for the U.S. Senate.
- Rhodes Scholars who hold various posts at the state level in the United States - including Bobby Jindal (Louisiana & New College 1992), the Republican Governor of Louisiana, and Gina Raimondo (Rhode Island & New College 1993), the General Treasurer of Rhode Island (Democrat). Bill Halter (Arkansas & St John's 1983) served as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (Democrat) from 2007 to 2011.
- At the local government level, Cory Booker (New Jersey & Queen's 1992), who is Mayor of Newark, New Jersey; Dayne Walling (Michigan & St Peter's 1996), who is Mayor of Flint, Michigan; and Peter Buttigieg (Indiana & Pembroke 2005), who has recently won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
- Katherine (Hubbard) Michelmore was in May 2011 appointed to the Senate of Bermuda.
Rhodes Scholars who have served at national level as heads of state or government have included:
- Norman Manley (Jamaica & Jesus 1914), Prime Minister of Jamaica;
- Dominic Mintoff (Malta & Hertford 1939), Prime Minister of Malta;
- John Turner (British Columbia & Magdalen 1949), who (as already mentioned) became Prime Minister of Canada;
- Bob Hawke (Western Australia & University 1953), Prime Minister of Australia;
- Wasim Sajjad (Pakistan & Wadham 1964), as already mentioned, twice interim President of Pakistan; and
- William J. Clinton (Arkansas & University 1968), President of the United States.
Another of the many Rhodes Scholars to serve in the past in elective office at local, state or provincial, or national level - Senator J. William Fulbright (Arkansas & Pembroke 1925) - was recently remembered in Oxford with the inaugural Fulbright Memorial Lecture on International Relations, given by Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter.
Who have we left out? If there are Rhodes Scholars whom we should have been mentioned in this article, please let us know, by emailing admin@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk
For details of recent appointments of Rhodes Scholars, please click here.
