I do not want to pretend that bankruptcy is the best thing in the World, but it is often times the best thing under the circumstances that you face. Below is a short list of all of the politicians, government officials, famous people and celebrities who have both filed bankruptcy and then gone on to recover and prosper nicely. They used the opportunity to correct a problem and get their financial house in order. Many of them were none worse for the wear. I am sure you will recognized many of the names.
Politicians and government officeholders both inside and outside the State of Texas have often taken advantage of legal protections offered in filing bankruptcy. Here are just a few who have filed:
Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United States
Thomas Jefferson - 13th President of the United States
Ulysses S. Grant - 18th President of the United States
William McKinley - 25th President of the United States
John Connally - Secretary of the United States Treasury, Governor of Texas
Ben Barnes - Lt. Governor of Texas
Garry Mauro - Texas Land Commissioner, Candidate for Governor of Texas
Craig Washington - United States Congressman from Houston, Texas
Mike Gravel - United States Senator from Alaska, Presidential Candidate
George McGovern - United States Senator from South Dakota, Presidential Candidate
J. Fife Symington - Governor of Arizona (filed while still in Office)
In addition to politicians and government officials many, many famous people have filed bankruptcy as well. A short list of these are:
Walt Disney - Creator of Disney Land, Disney World, and movie studio Disney
Henry Ford - Who founded the Ford Motor Company
William Durant - Who founded General Motors
Larry King - The CNN TV talk show host filed bankruptcy twice
P. T. Barnum - Who founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus
And finally, there are a lot of actual celebrities, like TV and movie stars that have filed bankruptcy. A few of them are:
