Fair enough, the original question was not as well-posed as it could be. I was originally going only through presidents since that was the only info I had at my disposal at the time, but it’s not necessary.
“Knowing each other” is admittedly vague. I guess in my mind the idea would be people who would have met and could recognize each other as colleagues, coworkers, or relatives. So just a chance meeting wouldn’t really cut it. But serving in the same Congress or administration would work.
I can’t seem to get a shorter chain than 8 people (including both Washington and Obama). Several chains of 8 do seem to exist, including some that go through Lafayette, Hamilton Fish, or Longstreet, though.
FDR never met Robert Lincoln? I mean, FDR ran as VP in 1920, was Governor of NY. Did he not attend the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial attended by Robert Lincoln?
The neat thing about the second chain is the fact that Obama and Bobby Lee are distant cousins.
I’m glad to see someone think of Roscoe Conkling. I’ve wondered if old political operatives like Jim Blaine and Mark Hannah might save us a step or two.
I like the idea of getting to Washington by way of JQ Adams. Surely his grandsons knew some prominent folks.
Perhaps the best route to be found is through Supreme Court Justices, since they tend to serve horribly long terms.
I think the shortest route may be through the ladies:
Obama has obviously met Caroline Kennedy.
Caroline Kennedy, I’m pretty sure, has met Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who was a previous child of a sitting President–I’m sure this can be documented somewhere easily.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980) almost certainly met Mrs.Caroline Astor (1830-1908), who was the social leader of New York City’s social aristocracy during Alice Roosevelt’s youth.
And I’d be astonished if there were not dozens of New York City society ladies living well into the 1840s, when “the Lady Astor” debuted, who knew George Washington personally, perhaps even who had attended his inaugural reception, held of course in lower Manhattan, blocks from where the Schermerhorns lived.
So it remains to document these meetings but I think it’s safe to say that the GW-BO chain is only six, including both the first and the future president.
The list might be shorten when and if Obama meets Tom Hanks who was either Lincoln’s fourth cousin three times removed or Lincoln’s third cousing four times removed. Lincoln’s mother was, I think, Nancy Hanks. You know how relatives hang on to memories of the older generations and distant cousins. Maybe Tom remembers someone who knew someone who knew Lincoln or his mother.
I believe there is a photograph of one of Lincoln’s sons watching Teddy Roosevelt in a parade or at a public event. I think he is hanging out of a window.