# Who's the closest to a real life Forrest Gump - being a piece of multiple major events? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579 "2016-04-08T18:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/1 "2016-04-08T18:37:23Z")
I’m reminded of Don King - not only was he involved in all the things you know him for, but he was also a large piece of Mapp v Ohio - the case that said illegally found evidence can’t be held against you. Mapp was involved in a gambling ring and, as I understand it, was under police suspicion in the first place because her husband attempted to bomb Don King, a rival gambling operator. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/2 "2016-04-08T18:40:40Z")
Kevin Bacon? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/3 "2016-04-08T18:42:48Z")
Wilmer McLean, the farmer who moved away from Bull Run after the battle there, had the misfortune to choose Appomattox as his new home, in time for the surrender - [Wilmer McLean - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_McLean) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/4 "2016-04-08T18:45:52Z")
There was a fellow who survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and went to stay with family in Nagasaki. Survived that, too. More recently, there was a young lady who survived both the Boston Marathon and Brussels Airport bombings. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/5 "2016-04-08T19:02:10Z")
Nah, I think it would be someone more engaged on other stuff. Like the head of the Bechtel corporation who was involved in the building of the Hoover Dam and then ended up the Director of the CIA under JFK. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/6 "2016-04-08T19:20:32Z")
Should we presume the OP to mean people who had no part in the making of these events? Otherwise, you’ll have people like Teddy Roosevelt, ALexander Hamilton, Nellie Bly, Thomas Midgley, Jr., etc. - people who went out into the world and (for better or worse) put their stamp on it. They were a part of a lot of things, because they were a **part** of a lot of things. But grrr…I feel like I know of one such individual, but I can’t recall who it was or what time period even… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/7 "2016-04-08T20:05:28Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > More recently, there was a young lady who survived both the Boston Marathon and Brussels Airport bombings. My god. I bet she has a twitch or two now. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/8 "2016-04-08T21:38:00Z")
Forrest Gump was more of a witness to history than a maker of it. But among relatively unknown history-makers, one of the most remarkable careers I know of is Henry Dearborn’s. He fought as a common militiaman at Bunker Hill and rose through the ranks becoming a colonel by the time of Yorktown. In between he participated in the battles of Monmouth and Quebec (after which he was briefly held prisoner). After the war he served as U.S. Marshal for the district of Maine, during which time he executed the first criminal ever convicted for murder in a civilian federal court. Later he served as congressman and peacetime Secretary of War. During the War of 1812, he was the highest ranking Army officer and personally led the invasion of Upper Canada. Later he married one of the richest widows in Boston and became a member of high society. Toward the end of his life he served as ambassador to Portugal while Brazil was fighting for its independence. Over his career he knew an incredible number of important people, meeting or at least corresponding with at least eight U.S. presidents, as well as John Hancock, Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, and Winfield Scott. Dearborn, Michigan, is named for him, as is (indirectly) Dearborn Street in Chicago. The capital of Maine, Augusta, is named for his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/9 "2016-04-08T21:43:40Z")
Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln, was either present for or very close to three presidential assassinations: his father’s, Garfield’s, and McKinley’s. I believe Sarah Vowell called him “Jinxy McDeath.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/10 "2016-04-09T05:33:23Z")
I nominate Louis Zamperini. > **[Louis Zamperini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini)** > > Louis Silvie Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014) was an American World War II veteran, an Olympic distance runner and a Christian Evangelist. He took up running in high school and qualified for the United States in the 5,000 m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, finishing 8th while setting a new lap record in the process. > Zamperini was commissioned in the United States Army Air Forces as a lieutenant. He served as a bombardier on B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mi... ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/11 "2016-04-09T14:06:33Z")
[Yang Kyoungjong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Kyoungjong) comes to mind, in a way. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/12 "2016-04-09T18:42:05Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Forrest Gump was more of a witness to history than a maker of it. Is this what we are looking for in this thread? People who were close enough to history-making events to see it all close-at-hand, but without being so close as to be actually part of that history? Then, how “close to history” is close enough to count, or too close to count? One nominee might be Charles “Chip” Bohlen (ETA: [Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Bohlen)) – close enough to a lot of history to be part of it, but close enough to “witness” a whole lot more – Specifically in the general area of US / Soviet relations and Cold War era, 1929 through 1969. Soviet expert; US ambassador to USSR and a few other places; career diplomat; staffer and interpreter at Yalta and Teheran; advisor to Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower and their Secretaries of State; survivor of smears by Joe McCarthy. He wrote his memoirs in a book [_Witness to History, 1929-1969_](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/549941.Witness_to_History_1929_1969), which I should hope is readily available in many public libraries. Full text apparently [on-line here](https://www.questia.com/library/104878656/witness-to-history-1929-1969), but requires some kind of subscription. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/13 "2016-04-09T19:28:41Z")
I’m always impressed by Talleyrand who worked for the Catholic Church, Louis XVI, the French Revolutionary government, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, and Louis-Philippe. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/14 "2016-04-09T19:56:38Z")
Roald Dahl is best known as a children’s author, but in addition to his adult (sometimes _very_ adult) fiction he was also a fighter pilot and intelligence officer during WWII, was married to Hollywood actress Patricia Neal, and was one of the developers of the [Wade-Dahl-Till valve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade-Dahl-Till_valve), a type of cerebral shunts used to treat hydrocephalus. So I would guess that he was at least acquainted with a lot of prominent people in a variety of fields. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/15 "2016-04-10T18:12:20Z")
George Plimpton could be included, IMHO. Not including his family’s accomplishments, Plimpton had a remarkably rich life and wide circle of famous friends: - First editor-in-chief of _The Paris Review_. - As a journalist, he fought three rounds against Sugar Ray Robinson and Archie Moore. - Similarly, played in practice games with the Colts and Lions (Football), the Yankees (Baseball), and the NHL; also played golf w/Jack Niklaus and a tennis match against Pancho Gonzales. - Acted in multiple films & TV shows (_ER, Little Man Tate, The Simpsons,_ lots more). - Contributed to several documentaries including Ken Burns’s _Baseball_ (as an expert) and _Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, The Civil War_ and others as a voiceover (usually playing journalist George Templeton Strong. If you watch a lot of these documentaries and GTS shows up, it’s gotta be Plimpton! - Wikipedia reminds me of the April Fool’s prank he played on _Sports Illustrated_ readers (and sports fans as a whole) by making up a Mets player named Siddhartha Fitch who could pitch 160mph and always wore a single boot. - Was part of the press corps present at the famous Ali/Frazier “Rumble in the Jungle” fight. - Appointed “official” Fireworks Coordinator by NYC Mayor John Lindsay (since Plimpton loved setting off fireworks at his parties–he was a demo expert in WWII). - And perhaps most notably (and sadly), he was a close friend of Robert F. Kennedy, and was present at his assassination–after which he helped wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the ground. - Other friends included Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol, and Jackie Onassis. I know I’m leaving stuff out, but gosh, isn’t this enough? This guy seriously led an amazing, varied life–he seemed up for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/16 "2016-04-10T21:09:51Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln, was either present for or very close to three presidential assassinations: his father’s, Garfield’s, and McKinley’s. I believe Sarah Vowell called him “Jinxy McDeath.” He is said to have refused a later presidential invitation with the comment “No, I’m not going, and they’d better not ask me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present.” Frankly, we might have been better off if Harding would have been shot at the dedication of the Lincoln memorial. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/17 "2016-04-11T01:29:07Z")
I recall who I was thinking of, Black Elk. (Though, Sitting Bull is a close second.) As a boy, he participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn. He was a member of the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, where he would have met Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley (but not Calamity Jane). He performed for Queen Victoria and toured much of Europe. When he returned he was part of the Ghost Dance Movement. Later, he was a witness to the Wounded Knee Massacre. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/18 "2016-04-11T08:50:46Z")
Steve Garvey was playing first base when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1974, and again when Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s career base hit record in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/19 "2016-04-11T17:52:28Z")
Rosie Greer was a former NFL lineman who was acting as a bodyguard for RFK’s wife on the night of the assassination. He heard the shots being fired and arrived in time to take the gun out of Sirhan Sirhan’s hand. He became an actor and then converted to Christianity and became a minister. As a minister he met with OJ Simpson during his trial. The guard assigned to the room they were in claimed he heard Simpson yell a confession to Greer. It was ruled inadmissible due to ministerial privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579/20 "2016-04-11T17:58:52Z")
No love for Rock’n Rollen Stewart? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-closest-to-a-real-life-forrest-gump-being-a-piece-of-multiple-major-events/751579.md?page=2)