mover and shaker

Idioms  

1. A person who wields power and influence in a particular activity or field, as in He's one of the movers and shakers in the art world. At first the two nouns referred specifically to God, alluding to the belief that a divine force was responsible for all events. The current usage refers only to human beings. [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Always rumpled, always mumbling, his 6-foot-7-inch frame often slumping, he was not trying to be a globe-trotting master of industry or political mover and shaker.

From New York Times

“This man was a real mover and shaker. You just feel an affinity for that” she said.

From Washington Times

He was also a mover and shaker in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

From Washington Post

Putin has bathed in the kudos of seeming to supplant the US as the Middle East’s big mover and shaker.

From The Guardian

Indeed, in Boston circles, Law was seen as a mover and shaker, right up there with our senior U.S. senator, Ted Kennedy.

From Washington Times