# How many handshakes are you from famous people? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2001, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762 "2001-01-12T20:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/21 "2001-01-13T07:26:07Z")
Zero shakes from Bill Clinton, as of last week. Which puts me one away from: Yasser Arafat Ehud Barak Hollywood. Buddy the Dog (assuming he’s been taught this trick) The Pope Jesse Jackson (which, unfortunately, puts me two away from Slobodan Milosevic :mad: ) Thousands of campaign rally attendees. Thousands of women. :)… And John F. Kennedy, which puts me two handshakes away from: Thousands of _attractive_ women. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![St.Attila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@St.Attila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Attila)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/22 "2001-01-13T07:30:31Z")
Oh, yeah, zero handshakes from Paul Nelson (Hyde) of Payola$. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/23 "2001-01-13T07:33:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\*Hurry up and get that Nobel Prize already, Matt. \*\* Well, I told them look, you’ve given it to Henry Kissinger, and I haven’t even destroyed any small countries lately. But noooooooooo. ---
**Author:** ![St.Attila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@St.Attila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Attila)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/24 "2001-01-13T08:37:06Z")
Oh, yeah, I was singing along in front of the stage at a GBH concert when the lead singer stuck the microphone in my face. “Catch-22!” Well, okay, that’s not a handshake, but I thought it was cool. ---
**Author:** ![St.Attila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@St.Attila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Attila)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/25 "2001-01-13T08:40:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SNenc \* > \*\*Zero shakes from Bill Clinton, as of last week. Which puts me one away from: > > Yasser Arafat > Ehud Barak > Hollywood. > Buddy the Dog (assuming he’s been taught this trick) > The Pope > Jesse Jackson (which, unfortunately, puts me two away from Slobodan Milosevic :mad: ) > Thousands of campaign rally attendees. > Thousands of women. :)…\*\* And one cigar from… ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/26 "2001-01-13T09:05:33Z")
I’m only one handshake away from Bill Clinton, since my best friend in college shook his hand at a political rally in Dayton (OH). I could’ve shaken his hand myself that day, but I honestly thought he wouldn’t be re-elected. Silly me. I would also be one handshake away from JFK if he were still alive, since my mother shook _his_ hand at a political rally when she was 11 years old. I am 2 handshakes away from Bill Gates, since my brother used to work for Microsoft. And by virtue of shaking my Congressman’s hand some years ago I am also only one handshake away from former presidents Reagan and Bush versions 1.0 _and_2.0. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/27 "2001-01-13T19:06:52Z")
Shaken hands with;[list][li]Ronald Reagan[/li][li]Jean Pierre Rampal (Classical Flute)[/li][li]John Renbourn (British Folk Music)[/li][li]Larry Coryell (Jazz Music)[/li][li]Eyvind Earle (Disney)[/li][li]Craig Barrett (Intel)[/li]One shake away from: [li]Enrico Fermi[/li]Pat Brown (father of Jerry) ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/28 "2001-01-13T22:16:23Z")
I thought the OP meant from people that you could meet **any time** through X number of handshakes; not necessarily people who you happened to shake hands with at one time or another. Under that tougher criteria, I am pretty much only one handshake from any member of Congress. Other odd quirks as a result of my job: I’ve got Jack Kevorkian’s loud-mouthed attorney, Geoffrey Fieger’s, cell phone number. If I call, it rings once and he’s on and says “Fieger.” I also can email with or get on the phone Chris Moore, who produced the movie “American Pie” and co-produced “Good Will Hunting,” among other film works. One of my best friend’s uncles is James Hoffa Jr., the president of the Teamsters and Jimmy’s kid. I sat next to him at her wedding. Several years ago, the band I was in was playing a nowhere bar in the tiny town of Alpena, Michigan. The Red Wings happened to be in town for a charity softball game. We figured some would come to the bar, because there’s nothing else to do there, and they’re Canadian, so of course. Right? Sure enough, a couple of them did. Sergei Fedorov sat and watched us all night. I sat at a table with him, talked for a good hour and had a few beers with him over the course of the evening. I spent most of my time talking with the Wings’ trainer, though, because he and I went to the same university. And Fedorov didn’t speak that great of English back then (early-to-mid '90s). They were so bored, they bought a case of beer from the bar, and were going to go back to our motel rooms at closing time to drink some more and just watch TV. An NHL Hart Trophy winner! (Well, a future one at the time.) They must have got a better offer, because at the last minute they changed their mind. I think they picked up some girls. We drank the case, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Zamboni)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762/29 "2001-01-16T21:00:15Z")
I think most of you don’t understand the handshake rule. If you have skaken hands with a person, you are ONE handshake from them, not zero. You are zero handshakes from yourself. It’s not possible to be zero from anyone else, unless they are aboriginies(is that spelled right?) that have never had contact outside of their own tribe. I read an article in Discover magazine that it’s mathematically impossible to be more than six from someone. I forget the math, but I know it’s what I read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-handshakes-are-you-from-famous-people/49762.md?page=1)