The Alfalfa Club, founded in 1913, is an exclusive social organization, based in Washington, D.C., United States. The Club's only function is to hold an annual banquet in honor of the birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Its members are mostly influential American businesspeople and politicians, including several presidents.
Presidents Presidents of the United States who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
, member in 1989
, member in 2009 , member in 2026
Vice Presidents Vice Presidents of the United States who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Cabinet officials People who have served in more than one position in the Cabinet of the United States and have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Madeleine Albright – Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001, Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997 James Baker – Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992, White House Chief of Staff (1981–1985; 1992–1993), Secretary of the Treasury from 1985 to 1988 Mike Pompeo – Secretary of State from 2018 to 2021, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2017 to 2018, representative for Kansas's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2017 George Shultz – Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989, Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1970 to 1972, Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970
Secretaries of State United States Secretaries of State who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Dean Acheson – secretary from 1949 to 1953 John Foster Dulles – secretary from 1953 to 1959, senator for New York in 1949 Henry Kissinger – secretary from 1973 to 1977, National Security Advisor from 1969 to 1975 Colin Powell – secretary from 2001 to 2005, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993, National Security Advisor from 1987 to 1989, member in 2009 Condoleezza Rice – secretary from 2005 to 2009, National Security Advisor from 2001 to 2005 John Kerry – secretary from 2013 to 2017, senator for Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013
Secretaries of Defense United States Secretaries of Defense who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Neil H. McElroy James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates Jim Mattis (current vice president of the club)
Secretaries of Commerce United States Secretaries of Commerce who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Robert Mosbacher – secretary from 1989 to 1992 Gina Raimondo – secretary from 2021 to 2025, Governor of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2021
Secretaries of Health and Human Services United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Donna Shalala – secretary from 1993 to 2001, representative for Florida's 27th congressional district from 2019 to 2021, academic
Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Directors of the Office of Management and Budget who have been Alfalfa Club members include:
Franklin Raines – director from 1996 to 1998
Members of Congress
Lamar Alexander Kelly Ayotte Robert F. Bennett Cory Booker David Boren Prescott Bush Shelley Moore Capito Christopher A. Coons Tom Daschle Debbie Dingell Elizabeth Dole David Dreier Joni Ernst Dianne Feinstein Newt Gingrich Barry Goldwater Barry Goldwater, Jr. Orrin Hatch Tim Kaine Jack Kemp William Knowland Joe Lieberman John McCain – member in 2009 Kevin McCarthy Claire McCaskill Mitch McConnell Daniel Patrick Moynihan Ben Nelson Rob Portman Chuck Robb Jay Rockefeller Mitt Romney Chuck Schumer Mark Warner
Governors
Jeb Bush Sarah Palin – member in 2009 Wes Moore- 2026
Mayors
Michael Bloomberg
Judges
William T. Coleman, Jr.
Supreme Court Justices
Stephen Breyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg William Rehnquist Sandra Day O'Connor Earl Warren John Roberts Anthony Kennedy Brett Kavanaugh
Ambassadors
David M. Abshire Richard Helms
Military officials
Neil Armstrong James Holloway III David Charles Jones Curtis LeMay David Petraeus William Westmoreland
Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
William S. Sessions
Chairs of the Federal Reserve
Alan Greenspan
Businesspeople
Brendan Bechtel, Bechtel CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Steve Case, AOL founder Timothy C. Collins, finance Michael Dell, Dell founder Raul Fernandez, Proxicom founder Steve Forbes, Forbes editor-in-chief Bill Gates, Microsoft founder Katharine Graham, Washington Post publisher William Grayson, finance Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed CEO Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute CEO, author Jay L. Johnson, former Navy CNO and General Dynamics CEO William B. Harrison Jr., JPMorgan Chase CEO Bill Marriott, Marriott International CEO Bill McSweeny, Occidental Petroleum President Robert Mondavi, winemaker Ross Perot, Electronic Data Systems founder Russ Ramsey, founder Catherine Reynolds, student loans, philanthropist David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group co-founder, financier Donald Thompson, McDonald's CEO C. Bowdoin Train, finance Jamie Dimon, CEO JPMorgan Chase and Co. Oska C, former CEO and the largest shareholder of HD Hyundai Brett Baier, American journalist
Other
James A. Baker IV, lawyer Clark Clifford, lawyer Valerie Jarrett Vernon Jordan Jr., lawyer Arnold Palmer, golfer Landon Parvin, writer Richard Pearson, chief of diplomatic & civic affairs at the National Geographic Society
References