My family is related (albeit a bit distantly) to George Washington.
When Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, my grandfather owned a glass and picture frame business, and my father met him on a couple of occasions while making deliveries.
As for personal dealings, I once ran into (more or less literally) Sir Ketumile Masire
My second cousin, thrice removed, was Philip Morrell, the only UK MP who voted against English involvement in WWI. His wife was the notorious Lady Ottoline Morrell, a first cousin once removed of the recently deceased Queen Mum. I keep up a correspondence and have spent time with Philip and Ottoline’s grandson, who is the son of a Clerk of Parliament and a father-in-law of current Conservative MP Edward Leigh (who was very hospitable and gracious to us, in spite of our tenuous relation).
My third cousin is Jack Waterford, Editor in Chief of the Canberra Times. I’m sure he has met several Aussie PMs in his career.
In the early '60s, my mother was engaged to a cousin of JFK’s (on the Fitzgerald side of the family, as I recall). Apparently he was a bit of a lout, and upon finding a better beau (my father), she called off the wedding. (Her parents disowned her for a bit after that, they wanted the glamour of being part of the Kennedy family, instead they got a Navy Hospital Corpsman as a son-in-law). I guess that’s 3 degrees of separation from me to JFK.
My father-in-law personally received an award from (then governor) Reagan; that puts me 2 or 3 degrees of separation from Ronnie.
My late maternal grandfather was very chummy with Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Rahman.
My grandfather was very active in politics during the fifties and all the way through the seventies, so through various political fundraisers he and my grandmother met a slew of famous politicians, including Nixon, Bush Sr., and a few Republican presidential candidates. My grandmother was also seated next to Eleanor Roosevelt at a function. She finds it amusing that we even care. I find it pretty cool that I’m only two degrees away from Mrs. Roosevelt.
My great great grandfather (other side) was a duke in Sicily. My uncle still has the family crest. The entire reason my grandfather was sent to America in the 1920’s was because his fascism was considered an embarrassment to the family, especially since they had been loyalists.
My father played golf with the the Queen’s Australian representative, the Governor-General, earlier this year.
I’ve met Harry Reid on a couple of different occasions - that’s one degree to Clinton and Bush 43.
Family connections include my great uncle, who worked closely with the Reagan administration and served in Bush 41’s cabinet, and my late grandfather, a top-ranking Army officer under Ford and Carter.
One of my sisters was a presidential scholar, so she got to meet George HW Bush after she graduated from high school.
I was in the same section for freshman English as Barbara Bush. I had intro psych with her too, but that was a massive lecture course so I rarely ever saw her there. One night I was walking back to my room and I heard something clatter on the ground behind me. It was an unopened package of Pop Secret or something like that. I looked up and saw my friend leaning out of his window on the 5th floor.
“You dropped this,” I said
“Yeah, could you bring it up?”
Turns out Barbara was up there with him and a few other people. I stayed for a bit and had some popcorn with them. They put wasabi on it, and that was pretty interesting.
I’ve also met Nelson Mandela. My ex-girlfriend is from Johannesburg, and I went there with her for a couple of weeks one summer. Her parents know him, and he happened to stop by their office while she and I were there one afternoon. Her mom introduced us, and told him I was from the US. After I told him it was an honor to meet him, he said to me, “George Bush?”
“I’m sorry?”
“George Bush?”
I didn’t get what he was asking, and in an attempt not to look like a moron I just said, “Yes, sir,” or something like that. He chuckled, turned to my girlfriend, and said, “Do not let him go back!”
Everyone got a good chuckle out of that. It was one hell of an experience.
My dad’s boss went to college with Jerry Ford.
I was at university with children of famous politicians, including the daughter of a Tory minister who was embroiled in a high profile sex scandal at the time. The son of Tom and grandson of Grantley Adams, PM of Barbados was in one of my classes. There were also some students who were said to be members of the ruling families of places like Malaysia and the Gulf States.
I know the OP said that seeing someone from a distance doesn’t count, but a university friend whose mother was Dutch claimed that she had seen Hitler when he visited occupied Holland.
Patrick Lucey is a distant cousin of mine, confirmed when my aunt met him at a Democratic convention. He was governor of Wisconsin and ran as a third party candidate for president with John Anderson in 1980. He was also embassador to Mexico under Carter. I am sure he must have met a variety of HOS, but no way to confirm which, other than Carter.
My dad worked for the government for decades and attended many State Department events during his career. He met both Eisenhower and Nixon, though neither while they were actually in the Oval Office (the former after his presidency, the latter before).
Some of these are kinda sketchy, but…
#1: I am a descendant of Col. Timothy Matlack, probable engrosser of the Declaration of Independence. As such, and as something of a player in the Revolution, he no doubt had occasion to interact with George Washington and possibly other future presidents.
#2: A good friend in high school was a ham radio operator, and sometimes communicated with King Hussein of Jordan (an avid ham, apparently) over the airwaves.
#3: A guy I work with once encountered President Clinton while visiting Martha’s Vineyard. My friend was out for a walk and the prez and his SS detail jogged past.
#4: My mother’s first cousin is (was?) married to Butch Van Breda Koff (sp?), the basketball coach. He coached Bill Bradley at Princeton. Bradley was a senator from New Jersey, who I’m sure rubbed elbows with a number of presidents and other heads of state.
Incidental contacts only:
We met a woman who was a White House employee early in Bush Sr’s administration so presumably she bumped into the Prez at some point. So that’s 2 steps away but not provable.
Typo Knig’s cousin Monica was a White House intern while she was in law school during Clinton’s era. *
*not really. Her name is not and has never been ‘Monica’. And she may not have actually been an intern, she may just have applied for it; my memory is spotty.
I know someone who was the plaintiff in a case that went before the Supreme Court… presumably those judges have met the president.
I’ve met lots of people who are close to Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk. Curiously, these are often the same people.
I have a cousin who was Bill Bennett’s top lawyer when ol’ Gamblin’ Bill was Education Secretary in the Reagan administration. And I’m presuming Bill met once or twice with Ronnie.
Not surprisingly, this cousin and I do not see eye to eye on political matters.
My dad and stepmom were invited to the palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II. (At Holyrood, I think, not Buckingham.)
My dad said the most amazing thing about the visit was actually the guy who went around and asked everyone’s names before the queen arrived, then introduced her one by one to each person, naming them and telling her a bit about who they were - without taking a single note or making a single mistake.
Also, I’m descended from vice president Fairbanks. But somehow that’s not as exciting, is it?
My grandmother’s maiden name was Spector. She always claimed we were cousins of Pennsylvania senator Arlen Spector but no one in the family was able to verify her claims. My mother never believed her.
When I was 15 I was in New Zealand as a Student Ambassador. During a tour of the Beehive the our group ran crossed paths with the Prime Minister and she stoped for a few minutes to introduce herseld and answered a few questions.
My parents attended a big ‘do’ at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne a couple of years ago, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip were opening a new section commemorating immigrant families in Victoria. My parents met Prince Phillip (who also uttered one of his gaffes, of which he’s reknown).
My mother and her 2nd cousin had some correspondance with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark - they were writing a book on some Danish ancestors who’d settled in Gippsland, Victoria. The Queen wrote back, saying she hoped these ancestors had behaved themselves once they’d immigrated.