I seem to recall a story where Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were making an appearance somewhere, and they were both aksed how much money they had in their wallets. Buffet had $100 because he was planning to play poker with some friends that evening. Gates did not carry a wallet.
i seem to remember reading examples on were different presidents have carried the “card” that they use for codes to go with the football. It said president Clinton carried his in his pocket i think? and another one carried it in his wallet
I’ve been Googling without success for this story as well. I believe it was an American Express card that George H.W. Bush also used to prove who he was.
Another story about the first President Bush was a reporter interviewing him in the White House when he was President. Out of the blue, he asked Bush how much money he carried on him. He said Bush pulled out his wallet and counted it - I don’t remember the amount but it was nothing unusual. So clearly, Bush carried a wallet with him on a regular basis.
I don’t think he would show his driver’s license or his American Express card to identify himself as president. Those cards don’t mention his occupation. Can you imagin a driver’s license with the name “So and So, President of the United States” ? :smack:
I’m reminded of a cartoon in which George Washington is asked for ID, and he pulls out a dollar bill.
I’ve heard the same thing.
beep-boop-beep-beep
“You have selected War Plan #7155, Massive Retaliatory Strike on Tierra del Fuego”
“What?!?”
“Launch order executed. Thank you for using Strategic Command. Have a nice day.”
“@#$%^&!!!”
I seem to recall Bush 41 on Larry King during his presidency (Bush, not King). King asked Bush what was in his pockets, just for fun.
IIRC, I think Bush handed King his drivers license and an American Express Card. King held them up to the camera. I don’t remember if King blocked the numbers from view with his finger.
IIRC, the AMEX card did say something at the bottom like this:
GEORGE H W BUSH
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
King made some comment to the effect of, “See, the President is human just like you and me… with a regular drivers license and credit card in his wallet.”
I can confirm this happened. It was a black kid, 8-10 years old. He said he didn’t believe he was really the President, so Bush 41 showed him some ID (I forget what kind). The kid knew the current president’s name so it didn’t have to list his occupation.
I tried googling it too, but there is so much stuff out there about Bush 43 (and it was a long time ago and not a big deal either) that it would be hard to find.
The ultimate head-of-state-paying-his-own-way photo op. Thirty-five years later and people still talk about it.
Oh, what’s going on? The chubby guy in the anorak and funny little cap is King Olav V of Norway. This was during the 1973 oil crisis, during which all non-emergency driving was forbidden on certain Sundays. Now, Olav was used to driving - or being driven? - up to the hills around Oslo for a cross-country skiing run every Sunday, and he was not going to let a stupid OPEC oil embargo get in the way of his routine. But he also wasn’t going to be seen disregarding the law, particularly not in a time of national crisis. He just got on the tram like everyone else. This photo shows him trying to pay for his ticket. (I say “trying” because his bodyguard had already paid for the whole group, but the King apparently didn’t know that.)
See, I don’t think I would recognize the Queen right off the bat (although I’m sure a bunch of british secret service people would probably give it away) if I saw her in public. It would be interesting to bump into her at, say, Sears looking at hat pins or something and thinking “Huh, there’s an old lady with a tiny purse buying hat pins. There’s something you don’t see every day.”
I imagine her trying to write a check and asking for ID only to have her hand me a canadian penny and say “That’s me, that one right there.”
I go a bit further and imagine looking at the other guy behind the counter with a stunned expression on my face. “Wow, the Queen shops at Sears, I had no idea.” To which the other employee would reply “Who are you? What are you doing behind my counter? Get out of my register. What do you think you are doing. Security!!!”
As three plain clothes mall cops tackle me on my way out the door I couldn’t help but be thinking “Well, at least she wasn’t wearing some tacky blue velvet outfit. That would hardly be fitting for a Queen’s visit to Sears.”