These Penn faculty are all related to high-profile politicians. From left to right: David Eisenhower, Kermit Roosevelt III, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Marjorie Margolies.
For a few Penn professors, politics is not only a subject to teach — it runs in the family. These professors are related to high-profile politicians — including a few former presidents.
David Eisenhower
The Annenberg professor and Director of Penn’s Institute for Public Service is also the namesake for the official presidential retreat, Camp David. David’s grandfather, Dwight D. Eisenhower named the retreat for his only grandson during his presidency. David also became the son-in-law of the elder Eisenhower’s vice president and the nation’s 37th president, Richard Nixon, when he married Nixon’s daughter, Julie, in 1968. At Penn, Eisenhower teaches a course called "Communication and the Presidency."
Ezekiel Emanuel
His brother may be the Mayor of Chicago and a former congressman and White House Chief of Staff, but Penn’s Vice Provost for Global Initiatives' resume is equally impressive. The Harvard-trained oncologist also holds a doctorate in political philosophy and chairs Penn’s Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. He has joint teaching appointments in both the Wharton School and the Perelman School of Medicine.
Marjorie Margolies
A professor at Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, Margolies herself is a former member of Congress and the founder and CEO of Women’s Campaign International. She was formerly married to former Iowa Rep. Edward Mezvinsky, but formalized new political relationships when her son married Chelsea Clinton in 2010. While there is no English term for Margolies to use to describe her familial relationship to power couple Hillary and Bill Clinton, there is a Yiddish one — machatunim. This semester, Margolies is teaching a course at Penn called "Empowering Women in Emerging Democracies." She is also a 1963 College graduate.
Kermit Roosevelt III
His great-great-grandfather Teddy Roosevelt may have spoke softly and carried a big stick, but this Penn Law School professor speaks quite loudly when it comes to issues like Guantanamo Bay. The descendant of the founder of the Bull Moose Party and leader of the Rough Riders specializes in constitutional law and conflict of laws. He also once clerked for former Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
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