S: (n) dark horse (a political candidate who is not well known but could win unexpectedly)
S: (n) favorite son (a United States politician favored mainly in his or her home state)
S: (n) running mate (a nominee for the lesser of two closely related political offices)
S: (n) spoiler (a candidate with no chance of winning but who may draw enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning)
S: (n) stalking-horse (a candidate put forward to divide the Opposition or to mask the true candidate)
S: (n) write-in candidate, write-in (a candidate for public office whose name does not appear on the ballot and so must be written on the ballot by the voters)
S: (n) Mugwump (someone who bolted from the Republican Party during the U.S. presidential election of 1884)
S: (n) noncandidate (someone who has announced they are not a candidate; especially a politician who has announced that he or she is not a candidate for some political office)
S: (n) party boss, political boss, boss (a leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments) "party bosses have a reputation for corruption"
S: (n) Reed, John Reed (United States journalist who reported on the October Revolution from Petrograd in 1917; founded the Communist Labor Party in America in 1919; is buried in the Kremlin in Moscow (1887-1920))
S: (n) Menshevik (a Russian member of the liberal minority group that advocated gradual reform and opposed the Bolsheviks before and during the Russian Revolution)
S: (n) pinko, pink (a person with mildly leftist political views)
S: (n) Castro, Fidel Castro, Fidel Castro Ruz (Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927))
S: (n) Begin, Menachem Begin (Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992))
S: (n) Ben Gurion, David Ben Gurion, David Grun (Israeli statesman (born in Poland) and active Zionist who organized resistance against the British after World War II; prime minister of Israel (1886-1973))
S: (n) Bevin, Ernest Bevin (British labor leader and statesman who played an important role in diplomacy after World War II (1884-1951))
S: (n) Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (a Roman who was an early Christian philosopher and statesman who was executed for treason; Boethius had a decisive influence on medieval logic (circa 480-524))
S: (n) Bolivar, Simon Bolivar, El Libertador (Venezuelan statesman who led the revolt of South American colonies against Spanish rule; founded Bolivia in 1825 (1783-1830))
S: (n) Brandt, Willy Brandt (German statesman who as chancellor of West Germany worked to reduce tensions with eastern Europe (1913-1992))
S: (n) Brutus, Marcus Junius Brutus (statesman of ancient Rome who (with Cassius) led a conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar (85-42 BC))
S: (n) Burke, Edmund Burke (British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797))
S: (n) Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Chung-cheng (Chinese military and political figure; in the Chinese civil war that followed World War II he was defeated by the Chinese communists and in 1949 was forced to withdraw to Taiwan where he served as president of Nationalist China until his death (1897-1975))
S: (n) Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (Roman statesman regarded as a model of simple virtue; he twice was called to assume dictatorship of Rome and each time retired to his farm (519-438 BC))
S: (n) de Valera, Eamon de Valera (Irish statesman (born in the United States); as president of the Irish Free State he was responsible for the new constitution of 1937 that created the state of Eire (1882-1975))
S: (n) Grey, Charles Grey, Second Earl Grey (Englishman who as Prime Minister implemented social reforms including the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire (1764-1845))
S: (n) Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton (United States statesman and leader of the Federalists; as the first Secretary of the Treasury he establish a federal bank; was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr (1755-1804))
S: (n) Havel, Vaclav Havel (Czech dramatist and statesman whose plays opposed totalitarianism and who served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and president of the Czech Republic since 1993 (born in 1936))
S: (n) Ho Chi Minh, Nguyen Tat Thanh (Vietnamese communist statesman who fought the Japanese in World War II and the French until 1954 and South Vietnam until 1975 (1890-1969))
S: (n) More, Thomas More, Sir Thomas More (English statesman who opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and was imprisoned and beheaded; recalled for his concept of Utopia, the ideal state)
S: (n) Morris, Gouverneur Morris (United States statesman who led the committee that produced the final draft of the United States Constitution (1752-1816))
S: (n) Mubarak, Hosni Mubarak (Egyptian statesman who became president in 1981 after Sadat was assassinated (born in 1929))
S: (n) Nansen, Fridtjof Nansen (Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and director of the League of Nations relief program for refugees of World War I (1861-1930))
S: (n) Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru (Indian statesman and leader with Gandhi in the struggle for home rule; was the first prime minister of the Republic of India from 1947 to 1964 (1889-1964))
S: (n) Pericles (Athenian statesman whose leadership contributed to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece; he ordered the construction of the Parthenon (died in 429 BC))
S: (n) Powell, Colin Powell, Colin luther Powell (United States general who was the first African American to serve as chief of staff; later served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush (born 1937))
S: (n) Sadat, Anwar Sadat, Anwar el-Sadat (Egyptian statesman who (as president of Egypt) negotiated a peace treaty with Menachem Begin (then prime minister of Israel) (1918-1981))
S: (n) Seneca, Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman statesman and philosopher who was an advisor to Nero; his nine extant tragedies are modeled on Greek tragedies (circa 4 BC - 65 AD))
S: (n) Suharto (Indonesian statesman who seized power from Sukarno in 1967 (born in 1921))
S: (n) Sukarno, Achmad Sukarno (Indonesian statesman who obtained the independence of Indonesia from the Netherlands in 1949 and served as president until ousted by Suharto in a coup d'etat (1901-1970))
S: (n) Sun Yat-sen, Sun Yixian (Chinese statesman who organized the Kuomintang and led the revolution that overthrew the Manchu dynasty in 1911 and 1912 (1866-1925))
S: (n) Themistocles (Athenian statesman who persuaded Athens to build a navy and then led it to victory over the Persians (527-460 BC))
S: (n) Tito, Marshal Tito, Josip Broz (Yugoslav statesman who led the resistance to German occupation during World War II and established a communist state after the war (1892-1980))
S: (n) Waldheim, Kurt Waldheim (Austrian diplomat who was Secretary General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981; in 1986 he was elected president of Austria in spite of worldwide allegations that he had direct knowledge of Nazi atrocities during World War II (born in 1918))
S: (n) Warwick, Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville, Kingmaker (English statesman; during the War of the Roses he fought first for the house of York and secured the throne for Edward IV and then changed sides to fight for the house of Lancaster and secured the throne for Henry VI (1428-1471))
S: (n) Wykeham, William of Wykeham (English prelate and statesman; founded a college at Oxford and Winchester College in Winchester; served as chancellor of England and bishop of Winchester (1324-1404))
S: (n) Burr, Aaron Burr (United States politician who served as vice president under Jefferson; he mortally wounded his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and fled south (1756-1836))
S: (n) Douglas, Stephen A. Douglas, Stephen Arnold Douglas, Little Giant (United States politician who proposed that individual territories be allowed to decide whether they would have slavery; he engaged in a famous series of debates with Abraham Lincoln (1813-1861))
S: (n) Houston, Sam Houston, Samuel Houston (United States politician and military leader who fought to gain independence for Texas from Mexico and to make it a part of the United States (1793-1863))
S: (n) Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jesse Louis Jackson (United States civil rights leader who led a national campaign against racial discrimination and ran for presidential nomination (born in 1941))
S: (n) Jackson, Glenda Jackson (English film actress who later became a member of British Parliament (born in 1936))
S: (n) Mullah Omar, Mullah Mohammed Omar (reclusive Afghanistani politician and leader of the Taliban who imposed a strict interpretation of shariah law on Afghanistan (born in 1960))
S: (n) Rankin, Jeannette Rankin (leader in the women's suffrage movement in Montana; the first woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives (1880-1973))
S: (n) Seward, William Henry Seward (United States politician who as Secretary of State in 1867 arranged for the purchase of Alaska from Russia (known at the time as Seward's Folly) (1801-1872))