 Over 21 BYU graduates have served in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives , such as former Dean of the U.S. Senate Reed Smoot ( class of 1876 ) . Cabinet members of American presidents include former Secretary of Agriculture to President Dwight D. Eisenhower , Ezra Taft Benson ' 26 and Rex E. Lee ' 60 , who was United States Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan . Mitt Romney , former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate , class of 1971 . 
