<p>I almost hit mitt Romney with a frisbee in Belmont, this was right after he was gov. By that I mean it went in his yard while he was outside, but still</p>
<p>1992, Bill Clinton was walking along Ocean Front Walk in Venice, California. My D (she was 4 at the time) was on the back of my bike. We stopped to say hello, as did many others. He tousled her hair, she giggled and he bent waaayyy down, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “You’re a cutie” she laughed - He was very handsome and he seemed very nice.</p>
<p>The closest I’ve come was a near miss. When I was a kid, LBJ came to Las Vegas where we lived at the time. Word went out that he’d be driving down one of the boulevards on his way to the airport, so we went to stand on the sidewalk along with a lot of other folks. It was after dark.</p>
<p>Excitement built as the lead vehicles of the motorcade came into view, but they were moving much more quickly than I had expected, maybe 50 mph. I was peering toward the back of the motorcade, trying to figure out which car would be the President’s, when suddenly my brothers started yelling. By the time I figured out that LBJ’s car was right in front of us, it wasn’t right in front of us anymore. “Did he already go by?” “Yeah, didn’t you see him waving?” “Which car?” “That big white one” – the one that, by then, was a block down the street. </p>
<p>So I’ve seen the President’s car. :D</p>
<p>I’ve had dinner with Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe. . .and all the rest through Obama. In fact, I have dinner with them every night–one of my kids has a placemat with all the presidents’ pictures/names/dates on it.</p>
<p>In real life I’ve only seen George H.W. Bush. I saw the top of his head at a rally back in '92. H had an internship at the white house when he was in college–guess he saw Reagan and Bush a few times. I met Huckabee at a small-town dinner when he was running for Arkansas governor. He went around the tables and talked to everyone–seemed very humble, and funny, too. Never met Clinton, but ate at a restaurant where he’d eaten. There was a photo on the wall of him with some waitresses. . .everyone made jokes about that.</p>
<p>I have a few other indirect presidential connections: My sons and I were photographed with statues of the Lincoln family at the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL (awesome museum, btw). At the Reagan Library, H and I got on Air Force One and had our photo taken standing in the doorway, smiling and waving at the camera–imagining ourselves as president and first lady and thinking that presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush had stood in the same spot. (Actually, I was thinking that. H was grinding his teeth wondering why his wife loves these tacky tourist traps. . .) Let’s see–really stretching here–a guy who used to own a house we rented had lunch with Nixon. H once dated someone who spoke at Obama’s inauguration. . .</p>
<p>H and S have met Harry Truman’s grandson plus some key members of Truman’s staff. They heard some wonderful stories, information and insight. They also met Michael Dukakis who was kind enough to write my S an excuse note from school!</p>
<p>Funny that you mention Dukakis, kitty56, because his wife’s name is Kitty. He lived in a half house alongside people we know. Shared backyard. Took the T to work as governor. The only time “celebrity” happened was when he was meeting people like Jesse Jackson for dinner. I think it was in the vice presidential nominee vetting period. The police closed off the street, which was humorous because Mike would be out walking by himself any day. He would show up at Town Meeting.</p>
<p>I have seen G.H.W. Bush in my hometown 4th of July parade in 1984 (while he was VP - campaigning with senator Chuck Percy and governor Jim Thompson), Clinton and Gore at a big rally in downtown Chicago before just before the 1992 election and Obama while he was running for senator in Illinois.</p>
<p>My most impressive meeting happened one day when I was walking down a nearly deserted sidewalk in downtown Chicago - a security guard politely asked me to stop for a moment. Then out of the side of a building came Nelson Mandela. He smiled and waved at me as he got into his car. This was a month or two before he was elected president of South Africa. </p>
<p>On a funnier note, my wife’s former boss was a high school classmate of Hillary Clinton. The 30th class reunion was hosted by the Clinton’s at the White House. Now the boss was a die hard republican but also an SVP at a bank. Everyone who attended the reunion got a personal picture with the President and First Lady. The picture of the boss and his wife arm-in-arm with the Clinton’s stayed in the bottom drawer of his desk - until the bank examiners came to town when it was placed front and center!</p>
<p>That almost hit the Mitt incident reminds me of the time I had the kids in the car and we were entering Rock Creek Parkway off of P Street. Bill Clinton was running with an entourage of Secret Service, but wow, we just blew right past him. Things were so different pre-9/11.</p>
<p>^^^Oh, we exchanged waves and smiles.</p>
<p>Having lived in/near DC for nearly 40 years have also had close encounters with Hubert Humphrey (Senate elevator circa 1973), Hillary Clinton, The second Bush, Ronald Reagan and Colin Powell.</p>
<p>I saw Ronald Reagan on an airplane before he was president. The only sitting president I’ve seen was Gerald Ford when he was campaigning in 1976. I didn’t favor him in the election, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see an actual sitting president when he was speaking at a venue that was literally in walking distance from our house.</p>
<p>MIL was teacher at middle school Amy Carter attended in DC and met her parents at annual parent/teacher conferences. Actually growing up in DC, the motorcades were a bother and non-event. My mom’s office was 1-2 blocks from the White House. </p>
<p>I marched in Reagan’s only innagural parade. Does that count?</p>
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<p>Oh, that’s right! I hadn’t made the connection, since my name isn’t really kitty - I just like cats!</p>
<p>Obama was in town to speak to a student crowd at the local U back in primary season prior to his election. After, he came to my neighbor’s house for a lunchtime fundraiser. I didn’t have the $500 per plate to enter, but a group of us neighbors hung out across the street with supportive signs. When the string of black SUVs arrived, he got out, came right across the street (followed by much alarmed looking Secret Service folks) shook our hands and chatted. He was friendly and charming, also very slight in his suit. Another neighbor took photos, and the photo of me shaking his hand was my FB profile picture for a few years. </p>
<p>In the late 60s, my church was down the hill from Barry Goldwaters’ house in Paradise Valley, AZ. A friend and I got the idea, age 14, to take the old warmonger flowers as a peace offering. We hiked right up to his house, knocked, were let in by his son, who proceeded to answer the phone and get involved in a conversation. AFter 15 minutes of perusing the family photos on the wall, we put the flowers down and left. Last time, I looked at the Goldwater compound, it was surrounded by a high chainlink fence. But that was now decades ago.</p>
<p>I sat on JFK’s lap when he was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma reviewing my late father’s batallion there. I was in kindergarden.</p>
<p>A month later, President Kennedy was dead.</p>
<p>I saw Clinton from far away when he came to give a speech at our local university. S1 and his classmates were right down in front. </p>
<p>I saw Obama when he was a Senator, on the day he got secret service protection during the campaign. I had a apt. in his Senate office and I missed him by about 30 sec. So I was only able to see him walking across the lobby of the Senate office bldg several floors below surrounded by 4 secret servicemen.</p>
<p>I saw Reagan at a campain stop in our small town in 1975 or so. He was railing against the possibility of giving the Panama Canal back to Canada. </p>
<p>Since this is CC, I’ll mention that my college roommate is now president of a university.</p>
<p>When President Obama was trying to get the nomination for the Senate I got to meet him up close and personal! A friend (not not Bill Ayers!) held a coffee for the struggling candidate (until Geri Ryan killed it for him her ex was gonna win the nomination not some guy with a weird name). He spoke to this small group of maybe 30 people and I felt like I was in the presense of something extra-ordinary (really the only other time I felt this way was when I saw Oprah Winfrey when she had just taken over Good Morning Chicago and no one had heard of her but my mom had tickets). Anyway, he just had this “presence” that you seldom see and I gave him a campaign contribution. My story is nowhere near as good as one of the guys I work with who works out at East Bank Club and got to see Mr. Obama several times in the locker room way before he was anything but that struggling candidate. He also says he had an entire converstation with him about gum on your shoe but we are not sure we believe him!</p>
<p>This is a fun thread to read through. Had not seen it before.</p>
<p>Joe Biden is an old family friend and his wife, Jill, is just a sweetheart. Used to babysit for Joe’s sister’s children. Who would have ever thought…?</p>
<p>Saw W on Earth Day event in Wells, Maine. His mother was there with him-she is one cool lady! It was a small crowd and very cool to be so close to them. They were both very genuine and likeable in person.</p>
<p>Went to the White House Easter Egg roll last year. Waited in line for hours to get in (and that is WITH tickets). Not a sign of the president anywhere or of his wife and daughters. It was mobbed and poorly signed so not clear what to do where. Later that day saw a blurb on the news about it that of course showed the president there-must have just been a photo op opportunity before the event really got underway.</p>
<p>DS has to do an independent senior project before graduation. DC is easily accessible to us so he thinks he might try testing the white house security as his project to see if he can get in. Probably shouldn’t be posting that here. It is just a joke. Don’t come after us. Kid has a sense of humor. LOL. We are going to have him do some meaningful community service.</p>
<p>When President Obama was in VT last year, I did get a chance to meet him and give him a hug. He seemed like such a genuinely warm person. He paid special attention to the children at the event. I’ve also been at a Rose Garden ceremony where Reagan and Bush were in attendance. Reagan had incredible charisma. He almost glowed. He referred to Bush, I swear, as “my bodyguard”.</p>
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<p>Say what? Giving the Panama Canal back to Canada? </p>
<p>My father had a brief exchange with Adolph Hitler while recovering from a battlefield wound incurred on the Russian front (yes, he was in the German army).</p>