Below is a list of notable associated people of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, United States. The year after each name designates the graduation year, if the person is an alumnus.
Law and politics Robert H. Adams, 1806 – United States senator from Mississippi Samuel B. Avis, Law – United States congressman from West Virginia, 1913–1915 Ronald J. Bacigal, Law 1967 – professor of law, University of Richmond School of Law Robert D. Bailey Jr., Law – West Virginia secretary of state, 1965–1969 Meredith Attwell Baker, 1990 – former Federal Communications Commission commissioner; president of CTIA Newton D. Baker, Law 1894 – secretary of war under President Woodrow Wilson, mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and named partner at BakerHostetler Matt Bevin, 1989 – 62nd governor of Kentucky Bill Brock, 1953 – former U.S. senator from Tennessee (1971–77), chairman of the National Republican Party (1977–81); U.S. trade representative (1981–85); secretary of labor (1985–87) Franklin Brockson, Law – United States congressman from Delaware, 1913–1915 William T. Brotherton Jr., Law – chief justice of the Supreme Court of West Virginia, 1989–1994 Clarence J. Brown, Law 1915 – president of Brown Publishing Company and U.S. congressman from Ohio, 1939–1965 Nathan P. Bryan, Law 1895 – U.S. senator from the State of Florida, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit William James Bryan, Law 1899 – U.S. senator from Florida Archibald C. Buchanan, Law 1914 – justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia Bruce L. Castor Jr., Law 1986 – district attorney, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2000–2008); commissioner, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2008–2016); attorney general (interim) and first solicitor general of Pennsylvania 2016; president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys' Association, presidential impeachment lead defense counsel 2021 Lewis Preston Collins II, Law – lieutenant governor of Virginia Christian Compton, 1950, Law 1953 – justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 1974–2006 Edward Cooper, Law 1892 – U.S. congressman from West Virginia, 1915–1919 Spencer Cox, W&L law, 2001 – inaugurated as governor of Utah in 2021; chairman of the Republican Governors Conference William Fadjo Cravens, Law – U.S. congressman from Arkansas T. Kenneth Cribb Jr., 1970 – former Reagan aide and former president of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute John J. Crittenden, 1805 – speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives; U.S. senator, governor of Kentucky, U.S. attorney general under presidents William Henry Harrison and Millard Fillmore; proposed the Crittenden Compromise to keep the Union intact George William Crump, 1804 – member of the United States House of Representatives; first recorded streaker in American history John J. Davis, Law 1856 – United States representative from West Virginia John W. Davis, 1895, Law 1892 – 1924 Democratic nominee for United States president; Ambassador to Britain; solicitor general; argued more cases before the Supreme Court than anyone else in the twentieth century; American Bar Association president; first president of the Council on Foreign Relations; named partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell Mark Steven Davis, Law 1988 – United States district court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia John W. Eggleston, Law 1910 – chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, 1958–1969 Gay Elmore, Law – two-time Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Sarah Feinberg, 1999 – interim president of the New York City Transit Authority, and former administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration John P. Fishwick Jr., Law – United States attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Henry S. Foote, 1919 – 19th governor of Mississippi Vance A. Funk, III, Law 1968 – mayor of Newark, Delaware Maciej Golubiewski (born 1976) – Polish political scientist and consul general of the Republic of Poland in New York City John Goode, Law – 3rd solicitor general of the United States; United States Congressman from Virginia John W. Goode – attended undergraduate school 1939–1942 but transferred to the University of Texas at Austin; attorney and Republican political figure in his native San Antonio, Texas"John W. Goode Jr.: Goode involved in law, politics: Active in legal and political ventures more than 40 years, but he was best known for his campaign against U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez in a special election in 1961", San Antonio Express-News, February 6, 1994 Bob Goodlatte, Law 1977 – U.S. congressman from Virginia R. Booth Goodwin, Law 1996 – United States attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Herbert B. Gregory, Law 1911 – justice on the Virginia Supreme Court, 1930–1951 Robert J. Grey Jr., Law 1976 – American Bar Association president 2004–2005 Morgan Griffith, Law 1983 – congressman from Virginia Duncan Lawrence Groner, Law 1894 – U.S. attorney; federal district judge for United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Pike Hall Jr., attended 1940s – judge in Shreveport, Louisiana Alexander Harman, Law – justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia, 1969–1979 James Hay, Law 1877 – United States representative from Virginia; federal judge on the United States Court of Claims George Washington Hays, Law – governor of Arkansas, 1913–1917 Homer A. Holt, 1918, Law 1923 – governor of West Virginia, 1937–1941 Linwood Holton, 1944 – governor of Virginia, 1970–1974 James Murray Hooker, Law 1896 – U.S. congressman from Virginia J. Bennett Johnston Jr., 1953 – U.S. senator from Louisiana, 1972–1997; Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist Jerrauld Jones, Law 1980 – judge on the Norfolk Circuit Court Walter Kelley, 1977, Law 1981 – former federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia and current partner at Hausfeld James L. Kemper, Law 1842 – governor of Virginia; Confederate General wounded during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg Jackson L. Kiser, Law 1952 – judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Ruby Laffoon, Law 1890 – governor of Kentucky Joseph Rucker Lamar, Law 1878 – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the United States Supreme Court (1911–1916), justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia (1903–1905) Edwin Gray Lee, Law 1859 – brigadier general in the Confederate States of America Harry Jacob Lemley, Law 1910 – federal judge on both the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Scott Marion Loftin, Law 1899 – U.S. senator from Florida; president of the American Bar Association Mary Beth Long, Law 1998 – former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs at the United States Department of Defense and former attorney with Williams & Connolly LLP Daniel B. Lucas, Law – poet; justice on the Supreme Court of West Virginia, 1889–1892 J. Michael Luttig, 1976 – assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Council and counselor to the attorney general; former United States Circuit Court of Appeals judge; twice considered by President George W. Bush for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court; current executive vice president and general counsel, The Boeing Company John Ashton MacKenzie, Law 1939 – federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia John Otho Marsh Jr., Law 1951 – Secretary of the Army, 1981–1989, United States congressman Robert Murphy Mayo, Law 1859 – United States representative from Virginia Hayes McClerkin, 1953 – former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives; Texarkana, Arkansas attorney Alexander McNutt – 12th governor of Mississippi Thomas Chipman McRae, Law – governor of Arkansas, United States representative John Marks Moore – secretary of state of Texas, 1887–1891 Jackson Morton, 1814 – U.S. senator from Florida Robert Mosbacher, 1947 – Secretary of Commerce, 1989–1992 Mark Obenshain, Law 1987 – member of the Senate of Virginia; Republican nominee for attorney general of Virginia in the 2013 Virginia election Robert E. Payne, Law 1967 – judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Mosby Perrow Jr. – Virginia senator (1943–1964); key figure in Virginia's abandonment of "Massive Resistance" to desegregation Archer Allen Phlegar – Virginia Supreme Court justice, Virginia state senator Miles Poindexter, Law 1891 – senator from the State of Washington Lewis Franklin Powell Jr., 1929, Law 1931 – associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1972–1987); president of the American Bar Association; named partner at Hunton Williams Gay Powell & Gibson William Ray Price Jr., Law 1978 – longest-serving judge and former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri Prescott Prince, Law 1983 – attorney defending Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Lacey E. Putney, Law – longest-serving member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the history of the Virginia General Assembly Heartsill Ragon, Law – U.S. congressman from Arkansas; federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Robert W. Ray, Law 1985 – partner at Pryor Cashman LLP in New York City and former head of the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel (succeeded Kenneth Starr) Alfred E. Reames, Law 1893 – U.S. senator from Oregon Pat Robertson, 1950 – Christian televangelist; founder of several organizations, including Christian Broadcasting Network, the Christian Coalition, the American Center for Law and Justice, and Regent University; host of The 700 Club; candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1988 Daniel K. Sadler, Law – justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court Jared Y. Sanders Jr., attended 1912–1913 – member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district Tom Sansonetti, Law 1976 – United States assistant attorney general for the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division William H. Smathers – senator from the State of New Jersey Abram Penn Staples, Law 1908 – attorney general of Virginia; justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia Lawrence Vess Stephens, Law 1877 – governor of Missouri Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr., 1943, Law 1947 – justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia Charles L. Terry Jr. – governor of Delaware 1961–1965 Thomas Todd, 1783 – United States Supreme Court justice nominated by Thomas Jefferson Paul S. Trible Jr. Law 1971 – former U.S. senator from Virginia, president of Christopher Newport University William M. Tuck, Law 1921 – governor of Virginia Henry St. George Tucker III, Law 1876 – U.S. congressman from Virginia; president of the American Bar Association James Clinton Turk, Law 1952 – federal judge and chief judge (1973–1993) on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia David Gardiner Tyler, Law 1869 – U.S. representative, son of President John Tyler, present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox Sol Wachtler, Law – former chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1985–1993) John W. Warner Jr., 1949 – former secretary of the Navy and retired U.S. senator from Virginia; for a time, a husband of Elizabeth Taylor Junius Edgar West, Law – 22nd lieutenant governor of Virginia Kennon C. Whittle, Law 1914 – justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia and president of the Virginia Bar Association H. Emory Widener Jr., Law 1953 – judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Seward H. Williams, Law 1895 – U.S. congressman from Ohio Joe Wilson, 1969 – congressman from South Carolina who shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during the 2010 State of the Union address John Minor Wisdom, 1925 – judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Harry M. Wurzbach, Law 1896 – U.S. congressman from Texas
Business Drew Baur, 1966 – businessman and owner of St. Louis Cardinals