# Degrees of separation between you and a head of state? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827 "2006-11-26T07:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/21 "2006-11-26T12:12:22Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] …one of his bodyguards threatened to shoot me for inadvertantly stealing his newspaper. [/QUOTE] :eek: And I thought I had it bad when the President of Latvia cut me off on the way to work a couple of months ago… ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/22 "2006-11-26T12:19:22Z")
My Danish great-uncle is a priest (a dean) and, since 1993, also a knight, “ridder af 1. grad af Dannebrogordenen”. As a result, he’s often at different occasions with the Queen of Denmark. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/23 "2006-11-26T12:26:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] :eek: And I thought I had it bad when the President of Latvia cut me off on the way to work a couple of months ago… [/QUOTE] The guy was a big meat-headed idiot. I grabbed a copy of The Mirror from a table and took it into the toilet. When I came out of the cubicle, he was waiting for me, grabbed the newspaper out of my hand and said “that’s mine that is”. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise” - a lot of pubs have newspapers lying around for the cientelle, and he had been nowhere near it. He loomed over me - there was noone else in the bathroom to overhear him: “I’m armed you know. I could shoot you.” He was being a braggart, and of course he wasn’t going to shoot me, but he was definitely serious about attempting to intimidate me. Fucking prick. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/24 "2006-11-26T12:44:21Z")
My cousin went to high school (Cheltenham, PA) with Benjamin Netanyahu. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/25 "2006-11-26T12:49:05Z")
Prince Phillip toured the paper mill when my Grandfather worked there. I don’t know how close Grandfather got to him, but Grandfather always talked about how every worker in the plant was issued a new (clean) pair of overalls for the day (I think they had to give them back), and how they hired in a bunch of potted plants to pretty up the place, which obviously they sent back when he left. The actual meeting of the Prince thing came a lot lower on Grandfather’s radar than the new overalls. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/26 "2006-11-26T13:02:17Z")
I know an Earl, who knows the Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/27 "2006-11-26T13:20:23Z")
I have no connections ( real, perceived or tenuous) with any head of state or politcal figure. And I plan to keep it that way. ---
**Author:** ![gredbioz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6a8cbe/32.png) [@gredbioz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gredbioz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/28 "2006-11-26T13:25:05Z")
[QUOTE=kambuckta] I threw a soggy tomato at the (then) Prime Minister of Australia (Malcolm Fraser) at a demo in the 1970’s. There was zero degree of separation once the tomato thwacked him on the side of the head. Does that count??? 😃 [/QUOTE] Prime Minister =/= Head of State. My best friend’s brother’s girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend’s band was on the O.C. with Adam Brodie. Adam Brodie was on Gilmore Girls. Madeline Albreicht was on Gilmore Girls. I’m sure she knows G.W., and if not, she knew Clinton, who knows G.W. (It’s not glamorous, bit I still qualify!) ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/29 "2006-11-26T13:51:57Z")
My uncle’s best college friend was a cabinet member in Mexico a few years back (he served as head of two different departments). He was my cousin’s boyfriend for a while back in the 60s. While he was in the cabinet in Mexico, another cousin was in a Central American cabinet. They met up at a state dinner (hadn’t seen each other in more than 20 years) and has a pretty amusing conversation. Between the two of them, I’m guessing they’ve met quite a few heads of state. I shook Bill Clinton’s and Al Gore’s hands when they were campaigning the first time around. They’d made a major appearance near where I work. Their buses were parked on the other side of the office complex and we figured we might be able to see them close up if we went near the area they’d be walking through to get back to the buses. Sure enough, they (and their wives) stopped by the cookie store that was on the way and shook our hands as they were leaving. Doesn’t really count, I suppose… GT ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/30 "2006-11-26T14:05:02Z")
I work with a news reporter who knows Jeb Bush, who is related to some guy in DC. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/31 "2006-11-26T14:31:09Z")
A friend of mine was an intern at the White House under Dubya. This is after she was his guest to a teeball game on the White House lawn and before she returned to take her sister to a State arrival, and he waved at her, and she was a tool who made him wave twice because she didn’t think that’s what was happening. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/32 "2006-11-26T14:46:44Z")
My cousin (somewhat removed) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the 1980s. Brainiac4 is a John Quincy Adams decendent. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/33 "2006-11-26T14:55:38Z")
My step-brother knows GHW Bush very well. He was the ghost writer of Bush I’s book and spent many hours with him at his home in Maine and was acknowledged in the forward. I am about 90% sure that he has met W a few times too. A guy that I knew in college worked in the Commerce Dept and was on the White House Staff under Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/34 "2006-11-26T15:06:57Z")
Bill Clinton, GWB GHWB and RR two degrees (if I have the concept right). Clinton, a good pal of mine was an intern in the White House working for Sid Blumenthal and Rahm Emmanuel but also from time to time directly for the big guy. Also, I’ve been in the same room with BC during a press event but I don’t think that counts. A former boss of mine worked directly for RR and GHWB and knows GWB well enough to get through when he calls. I worked with this boss every day. Of course, once you get to one US President you effectively get roughly the rest of the heads of state that were congruent with that US President. So if I’m at 2 degrees from four US Presidents I’m at 3 degrees with effectively all the powerful HOS of the last 40 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/35 "2006-11-26T15:43:18Z")
I’ve met Lady Bird Johnson, which probably places me two degrees away from most of the presidents from the last fifty years. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/36 "2006-11-26T15:52:23Z")
The (now former) CEO of the museum where I work once met Mikhail Gorbachev. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/37 "2006-11-26T15:53:22Z")
I once met Alan Hale, Jr.m who was totally like the President of Gilligan’s Island. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/38 "2006-11-26T15:55:22Z")
Herbert Hoover is (was?) my Xth cousin Y times removed (where X and Y are numbers I can never remember.) No paricularly close relation though. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/39 "2006-11-26T16:13:51Z")
Mr. S is distantly related to a Wisconsin state supreme court justice; he owns a home down the road from us, we run into him occasionally at family events, and we have his mother’s piano in our house. (We had been planning to ask him to marry us, a few years before he was appointed to the court, but we ended up having a small quickie wedding instead.) I imagine he’s our best connection. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827/40 "2006-11-26T16:31:24Z")
Apparently I can trace my family tree back to Robert the Bruce, which makes me something like the 26th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. And I believe my great-great-aunt was Camilla Parker Bowles’s great-grandmother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/degrees-of-separation-between-you-and-a-head-of-state/381827.md?page=3)