These Couples Rule
History has known some great leaders, both male and female—but what about some of history’s greatest power couples? Here are 40 of history’s most famous duos and their exploits.
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman
After marrying Paul Newman in 1958, Joanne and Newman enjoyed one of the most ever-lasting, loving relationships in Hollywood at the time. In eulogizing their relationship, Warren Beatty said, “They were just sensible, nice, intelligent people.”
John and Jackie Kennedy
By far one of the most famous couples in American leadership history, the young and vibrant President, John F. Kennedy and the First Lady, Jacqueline, were the dynamic darlings of American politics leading up to and during JFK’s tenure as President of the United States. John frequently took advice from his wife and the two enjoyed a loving and endearing relationship.
Abbie Rowe., Wikimedia Commons
Bonnie and Clyde
Of course, there had to be a place on this list for Bonnie and Clyde, or Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, the criminal couple that spent much of the early 1930s committing robbery, murder, kidnappings and auto thefts. They were gunned down in 1934 in Louisiana.
Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons
Pierre and Marie Curie
While Marie Curie may have received more notoriety than her husband, both were radiologists who conducted pioneering (if dangerous) research on radiation that would earn them a Nobel Prize. Pierre was a professor of Physics at Sorbonne University until he died in 1906. Marie would take up his post at the institute. Sorbonne University has a campus named after the couple.
Smithsonian Institution, Wikimedia Commons
Princess Diana and Prince Charles
Before he was His Majesty, The King, Charles was Prince of Wales and married Lady Diana Spencer in July of 1981. Watched by over 3500 people in Westminster Abbey and millions around the world, the marriage of Charles to someone of Diana’s stature in the world was magnetic for the nation. She would go on to eclipse the now-king in many ways, becoming a beloved member of the Royal Family by most people in the UK. Unfortunately, the Princess of Wales died in 1997 following a tragic car accident in Paris.
Juan and Eva Peron
The President and First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952 are perhaps one of the most beloved in all of international political history. In particular, Eva was beloved by the “descomunicados” or “shirtless ones” -- the Argentine working class. The President and his wife promised and delivered higher wages for the working class. The Argentinians immortalised her with the nickname “Evita”.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
One of history’s greatest royal power couples, at least in terms of the impact they made on society at the time. They were among the first royal couples to embody the ideals of fidelity, respect, discipline and exhibiting parental control properly. Victoria and Albert not only began Victorianism and the Victorian era but shifted British societal attitudes towards relationships and marriages.
Eduard Uhlenhuth, Wikimedia Commons
Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt
While presiding over the Great Depression and the Second World War, FDR and his wife, Eleanor, were undoubtedly under a huge amount of pressure from all angles to right the ship and steer the country clear of fascism. Franklin and Eleanor’s relationship was strained by the former’s brief affair with a secretary. Though divorce wasn’t on the cards, the event did cause Eleanor to become more politically involved in women’s rights in the workplace and equality across the United States.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Grace Kelly and Prince Albert of Monaco
Grace Kelly was an American actress in the 1950s who won an Academy Award for her role in “The Country Girl.” While at a photo shoot in Monaco in 1956, the young, attractive actress met Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Unfortunately, Princess Grace was also tragically killed in a car accident in 1982. However, the couple did have one son, Prince Albert of Monaco.
Hans, Peter, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, Wikimedia Commons
King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
The marriage created the Church of England and rocked a predominantly Catholic continent to its core. King Henry VIII became besotted with Anne Boleyn, the daughter of a prominent advisor to the King and chose to divorce (shock/horror) his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon. This divorce was unprecedented in British royal history and caused the fracturing of the English religio-political society.
William Powell Frith, Wikimedia Commons
John and Abigail Adams
John Adams is one of America’s most important political figures. He married his wife, Abigail, when she was just 20. But the love between them grew as they aged and she became his confidante and political advisor. A deep love rooted in revolutionary fervor.
Gilbert Stuart, National Gallery of Art, Wikimedia Commons
Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo
Two artists taking the world by storm, Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo would meet in Mexico after Kahlo sought out Rivera for career advice. Rivera would later remark, “She was the most important fact in my life and she would continue to be until she died 27 years later.”
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII
What is it with British royal couples, divorces and generally disturbing the order of things? King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson would meet in the early 1930s and when Edward became King in 1936, he was informed by his advisors that, as King, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he could not maintain a relationship with a divorcee. The King abdicated his throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a move that shocked the nation and the world.
National Media Museum from UK, Wikimedia Commons
Johnny Cash and June Carter
There is perhaps no more iconic country music love story than that of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Having met backstage at the Grand Old Opry, the two went touring together and eventually fell in love.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella would run over Spain in the late 15th century with an iron fist. They oversaw the Spanish Inquisition and sent Christopher Columbus to the New World in 1492.
Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
The Muslim dynasty of Mughal Emporer Shah Jahan is best remembered for it’s imprint on the world in the shape of the Taj Mahal. Named after his beloved wife, Mumtaz, the Shah commissioned the building of the Taj in 1631, following the death of Mumtaz in childbirth. Today, the Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world.
Shakespeare's England, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip
We would be remiss not to include the late, beloved Queen Elizabeth and her husband, confidante and best friend, Prince Phillip in our list. These two provided the stability of a traditional family image that the country had longed for following the fiasco of Edward’s abdication and other royal matrimonial mishaps.
Kiefer, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jiang Qing and Chairman Mao Tse-tung
Chairman Mao is best remembered for beginning the Cultural Revolution in China which caused the deaths of millions of people. However, his fourth wife, Jiang Qing was a powerhouse in her own right and expelled political opponents, intellectuals and many others who opposed her marriage to the Chairman.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King
As Martin Luther King Jr. fought tirelessly for equality and civil rights for African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, he was always supported by his loving wife, Coretta. She can frequently be seen pictured with the great man and was always there to offer him counsel and advice and encourage him to carry on his righteous fight for equality and liberty.
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre
This powerhouse is one of the most academically-revolutionary on our list. Sartre is considered to be among the leading minds behind existentialism, a philosophical approach to life, which posited that the individual has free will and independence of thought and autonomy. Meanwhile, his wife, Simone de Beauvoir, is considered one of the original feminists in Europe in the late 1940s, with her publication of “The Second Sex.”
Liu Dong'ao, Wikimedia Commons
Mildred and Richard Loving
When you think of civil rights, you think of the above-mentioned MLK and Coretta Scott-King, but Mildred and Richard Loving deserve a place in the conversation around equality, too. The couple were among the first biracial couples to be legally married in another state, and then arrested in their home state for that “crime.” The ACLU took up the case brought by Mildred, that she should be allowed to marry whomever she liked regardless of race. and, in 1967, the Supreme Court agreed, paving the way for miscegenation laws to be a thing of the past.
VCU Capital News Service, Flickr
Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith
This pair were the social justice and social work couple of the 1930s. Mary Rozet Smith was involved in social initiatives throughout Chicago including women’s rights groups, settlement houses for incoming immigrants and juvenile protection organisations. Meanwhile, Addams was a co-founder of the ACLU in 1920 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. The first American woman to do so.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe
Apart from being one of baseball’s greatest-ever players and one of history’s greatest-ever models and actresses, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were certainly considered one of the power couples of the 1950s, despite their marriage lasting only a year. Their love and affection seemed to never leave the pair until Marilyn’s tragic death in 1962. DiMaggio’s last words were, “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn.” on his deathbed in 1999.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Margaret and Denis Thatcher
While her husband Denis may have taken a backseat to the political force that was Maggie Thatcher in Britain in the 1970s, his consistent place at her side doubtlessly played an important role in her successful political career.
White House photo office, Wikimedia Commons
King Henry II of England and Eleanor Of Aquitaine
This lesser-known English regal power couple makes the list mostly because Eleanor led troops into battle during the Second Crusade, as was her regal right being a “Duke”, despite being a female, she inherited the dukedom of Aquitaine, making her a Duke.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Heloise and Abelard
This 12-century love story that goes beyond the original student-teacher relationship, Abelard the teacher, and Heloise the student, are caught up in their love for each other despite a deeply complicated relationship. The two figures are still studied today in many literary history classes of the world.
Stevensaylor, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Geoffery and Philippa Chaucer
Leading a life of devoted service to his King, Geoffery Chaucer and his wife Philippa would marry when Philippa and he were in the service of Elizabeth of Ulster, in the mid 14th-century. Following the death of his wife in 1387, Chaucer would go on to write his magnum opus in her memory, notably “The Canterbury Tales.”
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Justinian and Theodora
Among history’s greatest emperors of the medieval period, Justinian oversaw Byzantium and married an equally impressive and ambitious woman named Theodora. The couple are widely thought of as being responsible for rebuilding Constantinople, reforming Roman laws and recapturing much of the Western Empire of the Byzantine period.
Petar Milošević, Basilica of San Vitale, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Elvis and Priscilla Presley
While not too far into the distant past, the marriage of Elvis and Priscilla was another example of a power couple who’s initial love for one another couldn’t withstand Elvis’ personality dysfunctions and the stresses of Hollywood fame.
Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine
The Emperor and Empress of France from 1795 till 1810, when the pair divorced. While their early relationship was mostly built on fierce lustfulness, while Napoleon was conquering, Josephine would engage in an affair and Napoleon would repay the favour by engaging in a few of his own. However, despite their divorce in 1810, Napoleon continued to feel a deep affection for Josephine.
Musée Carnavalet ,Look and Learn
Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas
Talk about lifelong love. The pair of Gertrude and Alice maintained a lifelong vigil of love for one another, practically immediately after meeting on the day that Tolkas arrived in Paris from the United States in 1907. Nearly 40 years later, after many a love note left on a pillow, their relationship would be revealed to the world after the publication of “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” and is considered a pioneering relationship in the scope of same-sex relationships throughout Europe and the United States.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
John and Yoko are among music’s most iconic couples. Despite allegations of Yoko’s attempts to break up the Beatles, the two were among the most devoted and loving musical couples of their era and infamous. They were married in 1969 until John died in 1980.
Bernard Gotfryd, Wikimedia Commons
Elizabeth and Robert Browning
While Robert Browning may be the name you’ll recognize from the Victorian era’s poets, as was customary at the time, his beloved wife (who ran away from home to marry him) was the more successful of the two. Among her most famous works is “Sonnett 43”.
Thomas Buchanan Read, Wikimedia Commons
Nelson and Winnie Mandela
The Mandelas undoubtedly deserve to be on this list. Their everlasting and undying love for one another throughout some of the most turbulent times in South Africa, alongside their steadfast dedication to ideals of equality and justice makes them a power couple. Each never walked alone.
Archives de la Ville de Montréal, Flickr
Barack and Michelle Obama
Perhaps it was their enduring love for one another, or that they each did their own ‘thing’, while one was running the country, the other was a successful law attorney, public speaker and author. We couldn’t leave the former President and First Lady off the list of ‘power couples’.
Isador and Isa Strauss
These two are the founders of Macy’s. They were both on the Titanic when it sank and refused to leave the ship without each other. “Till death do us part,” literally.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
Catherine The Great and Gregory Potemkin
Catharine the Great was one of Russia’s greatest statespeople, and Gregory (Grigory) Potemkin was one of her ‘favourites’ - an intimate partner outside of marriage. The two became powerhouses in military leadership and supremacy, expanding the Russian borders to just about where they are today.
shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin
While everyone knows that Freddie Mercury was gay and that fact ended his intimate relationship with Mary Austin, it did not end their friendship. They remained firm friends til Mercury’s death. Mercury penned the Queen classic, “Love Of My Life” for Mary.
Cleopatra and Julius Caesar
Yes, that Cleopatra and that Caesar. Following an Egyptian coup by Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great’s closest confidants, Cleopatra would enlist the help of Julius Caesar to win back her kingdom from Ptolemy. Cleopatra and Caesar were successful in their defense of Alexandria, Egypt’s capital. The two rulers would maintain a private affair and produce a son: Caesarion.
Tancredi Scarpelli, Wikimedia Commons
Cleopatra and Marc Antony
Following the death of Julius Caesar, with whom Cleopatra also had a relationship, Marc Antony, a general and Roman politician assumed control of Egypt, which was then known as Rome’s “client kingdom”, ruled by Cleopatra. Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship earned them the title of one of history’s first ‘power couples’.
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