Power Poker Players

Did you know that Nixon financed his first run for Congress with money he made playing poker in the Navy? Or that Warren Harding played so much, his cabinet was called the 'Poker Cabinet,' or that Bill Gates says he learned more playing poker in his dorm than he did in class at Harvard, and used his profits to start Microsoft?

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Abraham Lincoln: "During his youth and young adulthood, while working as a riverboat pilot, Lincoln was often involved in penny ante poker, which showcased his love of competition and challenge. Playing poker gave Abraham a chance to pit his skills against his contemporaries, but keeping the cost down appealed to his more parsimonious side."

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Thanks to members of the CardsChat forum for contributing these names, and descriptions, of powerful or famous people who play(ed) poker, for recreation and/or profit. (In no particular order):

John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt (rumor has it he cheated), Dwight D. Eisenhower (most military officers of that era were card players. McArthur was reportedly an excellent bridge player), Lyndon Johnson (who also reportedly cheated), William Faulkner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Buss, Winston Churchill, Mike Werbe, Roger Clinton, Red Foxx, Langston Hughes, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Yusaf Islam, Bob Hope, Jim Bowey, U.S. Grant (reportedly a losing player), Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holiday, Ansel Williams, Merryweather Clark, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Mark Twain.

And these of the more infamous kind:

The Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.
James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock and John Wesley Hardin; the Earp brothers were all gamblers, reportedly tended more toward Faro and other "games of chance." There was also a famous female poker player of the Old West named "Poker Alice" Ivey/Tubbs. Ivey was her maiden name and Tubbs her married name.