Of course, Cleveland did it and won.

Peter the Great has multiple famous examples. Alexander Menshikov was his close advisor and it is suggested by some historians that he was a stable boy as a child. Catherine I, Peter's wife and Empress after his death, was born Marta Helena Skowrońska and lived a life of poverty/peasantry/possibly slavery before becoming mistress to Peter.

Abram Gannibal was originally a slave purchased as a boy from Africa by Peter the Great, who recieved an education and became a military engineer/nobleman into the time of Elizabeth's rule if my memory serves correctly.

Scholars argue whether Daniel from the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible was a real person or not, but his story certainly counts if so.

Ive heard that Ride with the Devil is fairly accurate, but most people consider it boring.

How did Nikolai Ignatyev secure so much land for Russia after the Opium Wars, despite Russia denying the request from Britain to be allies and sending virtually no military support? Are there any good books on the Russian specific side of the conflict?

Well, yeah. Lots of money to be made.

I grew up and still live in an area that is dotted everywhere with tiny mining towns that sprang up during booms in different hollers and have now been abandoned and totally forgotten, with no trace save for maybe a cellar here, a stack there, and the red creek water.

Historic mining towns weren't necessarily meant to last, and have been largely forgotten regardless of who primarily worked them. In my area, though, the African American history of these towns has seen a great resurgence, and people have taken specific interest in preserving the history of the African American towns. Unfortunately the same enthusiasm has not caught on for the Hungarian or German communities that were once near me, many of which are not lucky enough to have even a sign in remembrance of where they once worked and died. I've found that these things usually come in cycles.

Luckily, some people like me have been at least working to research and preserve maps and first-hand accounts throughout the 1800's to early 1900's. It's hard for some people to believe that the back road location that they share with two or three other houses once had 16 saloons and a hotel.

Local history is my favorite to research, and with mining towns it's often easier than people think. That being said, we're still suffering under the heavy burden of a lack of infrastructure, the opioid epidemic, and poverty that keeps people focusing on the "now", understandably so. People from outside of Appalachia often bring a stereotypical view or are disrespectful in their approach, which further exacerbates the problem IMO.