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If Politicians In History Had Personal Email Addresses, We Know What JFK's Would Have Been

You know what made me think about my childhood? Hillary Clinton's recent email address scandal. As children in America, we're taught from a very young age how to write to world-class politicians. I don't remember exactly when this letter-writing started, but it must have been as early as second or third grade, and it continued throughout high school. In college, professors still give assignments that require students to address their government — last semester, I had to propose an educational policy reform that was "addressed" to either my local government, state officials, or the President himself.

What purpose do these assignments serve, aside from getting up children's hopes that the President will read and respond to their letters about why they should have less homework? For much of my childhood, once I realized that my hard work on these missives was all for nothing, I resented these letter-writing assignments. I write enough letters to people who won't respond anyway — sources for articles who don't want to talk, ex-boyfriends who want to talk even less, religious figures, and don't even get me started on Santa. Why should I spend my time waxing poetic writing persuasive essays to people who, according to my experience, may not even exist save for on TV screens?

But the recent scandal involving Hillary Clinton's personal email address gave me renewed hope. Politicians really do write correspondence like normal people, and they do it from real personal accounts, to boot. This made talking to a President or Prime Minister seem much less unrealistic. If Clinton has a personal email address, isn't it possible that I could figure it out with some top-notch research and guesswork? And, following that logic, doesn't it stand to reason that I could guess the personal email addresses of any other politician for whom I have questions about life, love, and government?

Because I couldn't pass up the opportunity, I decided to give it a shot. While there are some people on this list who most likely didn't have access to email because they died years before the Internet was invented, you can never be sure — government secrets and everything. So without further ado, here are the (possible!) personal email addresses for eighteen figures you might want to contact.

by Zoe Ferguson

Vice President Joe Biden (United States)

JoeyJoeyBoBoey@gmail.com

Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom)

IronLady1925@margaretthatcher.org

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

President Nelson Mandela (South Africa)

ILuvDemocracy18@yahoo.com

PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (United States)

NineWouldBeEnough@supremecourt.org

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Prime Minister Winston Churchill (United Kingdom)

FondOfPigsLOL@hotmail.com

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

President George W. Bush (United States)

misunderestimated@gop.com

Pete Marovich/Getty Images News/Getty Images

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (United States)

BigStick@yahoo.com

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (United States)

ClassyClinton@livinghistory.com

Bryan Thomas/Getty Images News/Getty Images

President François Hollande (France)

ImSoFrancy@notstrausskahn.fr

Pool/Getty Images News/Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin (Russia)

ViktorPetrov@houseofcards.com

Carsten Koall/Getty Images News/Getty Images

President Barack Obama (United States)

funniestprez@funnyordie.com

Darren Hauck/Getty Images News/Getty Images

President John F. Kennedy (United States)

HusbandOfJackie@firstladies.org

STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

President Bill Clinton (United States)

SaxNotSex@democrats.org

HELAYNE SEIDMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Governor Sarah Palin (United States)

ItsJustPop@savethebiggulp.com

Pete Marovich/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria)

sorry@history.com

STR/AFP/Getty Images

President Abraham Lincoln (United States)

StartedFromTheBottom@logcabin.com

Getty Images/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Vice President Al Gore (United States)

chickenlittle@algore.com

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice (United States)

theboss@banbossy.com

Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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