Family connections to famous people/world leaders?

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

So my family, and my Grandpa in particular, were somewhat prominent figures during the 70's and 80's in the Conservative and Evangelical movements. In addition to visiting countries like Vietnam and China as a missionary and fellow for 'Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International' (FGBMFI) my Grandparents attended Ronald Reagan's inaugural ball and hosted multiple famous Christian leaders like Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker and the Falwells, among others at their home. My Grandpa was also involved in Robertson's '88 Presidential Campaign to some extent.

Recently while talking to my Mother about my Grandpa and his overseas travels she mentioned that during a conference in Jerusalem that he was invited as one of a few Christian businessmen to a meeting with Anwar Sadat as well and presumably even met whichever Israeli PM was in charge at the time, too, either Golda Meir or Yitzhak Rabin. I'll have to confirm the specifics with her...

I'm curious to hear about the family members y'all have who have met and/or have connections with famous historical figures.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

None. I met Luiz Marinho (then mayor of my city) in 2015, when he visited my elementary school

[T'Chenka]

My stepfather's grandma was the daughter of a rich guy that owned a big Canadian company.

My dad's cousin was a small-time actor in Hollywood films and television until the pandemic where he became anti-vaxx and ruined his career. You've probably seen him in at least one movie, at least very briefly, but I won't divulge anything.

My mom and her parents were family friends with one of the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey players decades ago.

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

My (a bunch of greats) grandfather, Captain James Booth, was an officer under and a friend of George Washington. He helped explore what is now the state of West Virginia, and he's the namesake of the small town of Boothsville, WV.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

My (a bunch of greats) grandfather, Captain James Booth, was an officer under and a friend of George Washington. He helped explore what is now the state of West Virginia, and he's the namesake of the small town of Boothsville, WV.

Captain James Bowser*, Koops

And it really should come as little surprise that my prissy a** has connections to Indian royalty on my mother's side. 

[Middle-aged Europe]

In my family, I'm the one with the most connections to famous people. I know a couple of Germany's current governments ministers in person and as such I have probably only two or three degrees of separation to Joe Biden.

My grandfather on my father's side probably knew some of the higher-ups in East Germany's regime during the 70s and 80s.

Not family, but I've got a friend who has met Keanu Reeves due to her involvement in the production of John Wick 4.

[You don't see any blue avatars now]

My dad's cousin is Rich Gedman, Red Sox pitcher from the '80s.

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

My great-grandfather on my Dad's side had, according to them, used be a pilot for Muhammad Ali Jinnah until he died in a plane crash in Lahore in the 50's.

My grandfather, before he died, was a very well-connected man. He has a handwritten letter from Bill Clinton thanking him for supporting the administration. And hell, the news of his death was featured on the front page of a Pakistani newspaper.

And just like my grandfather had with Bill Clinton, I have a handwritten letter from Dark Brandon himself.

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

My grandmother's story was that she was a cousin of Eugene Cernan, the last man on the moon. Apparently he mom was at her house the night he landed on the moon. But I traced up the family trees to Slovakia as best as I could, and all I got was they were from the same town. So maybe the family connection was really just from coming over to the US from the same town...

[Joe Republic]

My great-grandfather was the test pilot for the first time travel machine.  I'm so proud of my son for raising such a distinguished young man.

[Crumpets]

My grandma went to high school with Dick and Lynne Cheney, and apparently she and Lynne were pretty good friends, although both grandparents never really got along with Dick, even back in the 1950s. Stands to reason they both became lifelong Democrats. My grandma went on to work for a fairly prominent local philanthropist and had a decent number of connections through that - mostly Washington Governors and Senators, but she also had some correspondence with then-Governor Bill Clinton. Judging from some of the previous posts here, dude clearly got around.

And on the other side of my family, I think I have some ancestors who were part of the first group of Mormons to head west, but that's a very legend-heavy and documentation-thin part of our family history. Like, seriously, there's a whole buried treasure side plot.

[TDAS04]

My dad’s cousin worked for APJ Abdul Kalam, who would later become President of India.

I went to high school with John Thune’s daughters, sat by one in geometry class.

My uncle from my mom’s side shared an elevator with Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr..

[John Dule]

One of my ancestors was a British naval officer on the ship that brought Napoleon to St. Helena.

[Lechasseur]

My Aunt was married to the son of a very famous Canadian hockey player

Oh and the story of when my dad met this hockey player was hilarious

[Lechasseur]

Also, I believe my parents had met Pamela Harriman a few times back in the 1990s

[If my soul was made of stone]

One of my father's coworkers used to share his daily Amtrak commute with Amtrak Joe.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I am second cousins, once removed with Senator Bob Casey.  It's through his mother's side, so not his father (the Casey from Planned Parenthood v. Casey).

[Lechasseur]

Otherwise, in terms of less famous politicians, my grandfather's cousin was a PC MLA (the Ontario equivalent of a state representative) in Ontario (only blood relative on this list), and my mom's cousin was married to the British High Commissionner in Malawi

[Lechasseur]

And in terms of my own meetings, I've met a few well known french politicians

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Quite a few on my dad's side, which I've mentioned on the forum several times:

1. My first ancestor to the Colonies was one of the few immigrants from Scandinavia. He married the first European woman born in New Amsterdam. Mr. Morden and I are distant cousins as a result of their lineage.

2. I am also a distant cousin of Howard Dean, Gloria Vanderbilt, and her son, Anderson Cooper.

3. I am related to two congressmen. One served during Jackson's presidency, and another in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

4. I am related to a colonel who was imprisoned in North Carolina fighting the KKK. President Grant nominated him as an envoy to an obscure island country, but the appointment was withdrawn for unknown reasons.

5. My grandmother briefly dated Buzz Aldrin, many years before the moon landing.

6. On my mom's side, her grandparents and their family from Poland lived in the house of Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. My mom recalled that there was a blood splatter with a bullet hole in one of the walls of the cellar. No idea what happened there (suicide, perhaps?). But the house was turned into a place of business and shops, sadly.

[nicholas.slaydon]

My grandfather used to go fishing with some Senator from Louisiana back in the 80's and 90's, though I don't know which one.

[Senator Incitatus]

I have a number of direct ancestors with Wikipedia pages but none I would consider really "famous."

I have one living cousin in the same category, but I've never really looked into distant cousin relationships; I don't see the point, since cousins have no real impact on my own genetics or life. I would imagine there are hundreds of mildly interesting ones, especially given the bottleneck effect of the early colonists.

[Continential]

A relative married the granddaughter (?) of the ex-Indian vice president. Some relatives of mine are Communist Party activists. A granduncle/grandaunt run a school for mentally challenged students which was given an award by the ex-Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The funniest is one branch of the family being tenants of Lord Byron.

[GoTfan]

One of my relations was the Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois and a close friend and confidante of Abraham Lincoln.