“He told us the only job he would rather have than being president of the United States was being commissioner of baseball,” Williams said.
Asked if he really played baseball with Aaron, Williams replied: “That’s a whole ‘nother story.”
Williams played golf with former President Gerald Ford in Sun Valley, Idaho, at a golf tournament organized by baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew to raise money to fight leukemia. Ford “totally hit it sideways,” Williams said.
While jogging shirtless on the TCU campus, Williams said he randomly ran into President Jimmy Carter on the steps of the school’s chapel and shook hands. He met Ronald Reagan during a campaign stop in Fort Worth during the California governor’s second unsuccessful bid for president, in 1976. Williams’ father presented Reagan with a jackalope taxidermy, which was later displayed at Reagan’s ranch.
Through Texas political circles, Williams came to know both George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush. The Williams family spent time with the Bushes at their summer compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, and he flew on Air Force One with W.
Years after taking over his father’s auto dealership, Williams said he met President Bill Clinton during a small business event in downtown Fort Worth; today, Williams is chairman of the House Small Business Committee.
Shortly after he was elected to Congress, Williams met President Barack Obama during a 2013 meeting with House Republicans in the basement of the Capitol. He’s taken numerous photos with President Donald Trump, some of which are displayed in his office. And he met President Joe Biden when the Democrat visited the GOP dugout during the 2021 Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park.
Williams is the GOP team manager. He survived another politically motivated shooting, in 2017, when a gunman opened fire on Republican lawmakers and staffers during their morning baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.
“I’ve shook the hand of every president since Harry Truman,” Williams said, “and people will tell you there’s not many people out there that can say that.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
