The experience of sharing a name with a president: Free upgrades and pardon requests

WASHINGTON – There’s not only one Donald Trump in the United States. Nor is there only one William J. Clinton.

Plenty of people share names with famous presidents.

Donald Trump, a veteran from Alabama, shared that he often receives complimentary items due to his name. William J. Clinton, known as Billy, used to reside in the Washington, D.C., area and would receive intriguing mail from prisoners.

Both men who have served in the White House with these names will be present at the Capitol on Monday to participate in Trump’s inauguration as the president-elect. The Associated Press interviewed individuals sharing names with these presidents to explore their experiences.

William J. Clinton, Tennessee resident

One individual mentioned, “My father is Bill, not the former president, but the seventh in the lineage of William J. and William Clintons in our family tree. So I’m the eighth, and my nine-month-old son is the ninth. … There are certainly many instances of people doing double takes, and it’s a daily thing. I always have in my mind, like, there’s the daily occurrence of someone saying, ‘Your name is really Bill Clinton?’”

“Some of the craziest things that have happened because of my name, and especially because I had an address for, you know, basically my whole life that was like in and around the D.C. area, was receiving letters from federal inmates asking for presidential pardons addressed to me, like by accident.”

Donald Trump, a veteran and resident of Clanton, Alabama

“There’s been a lot of times where I got upgraded, you know, like first class. There has been times where I did make reservations for a hotel and they gave me the penthouse free. Well, thank you very much. I’ve had some free meals at restaurants.”

Abraham Lincoln, a banking professional from Washington state

“I’ve found that it’s sort of a blessing and a curse. Like it’s really good for breaking the ice, sort of, people are just sort of amazed and it gets people talking. It also, you know, where first impressions really matter, people aren’t going to forget my name, therefore, they’re not going to usually forget the first impression. So, I’ve got to really always sort of be on my A-game when I’m meeting people.”

“Reservations generally will go under (his wife’s) name because I usually will get a, ‘No really what’s your name?’ Or, ‘You’re messing with me.’”

Grover Cleveland, a fire chief from Cresco, Pennsylvania

“Just growing up, everyone was always pretty shocked on how I have the exact name.”

“I’ll give a credit card at a store that somebody might not know who I am. And yeah, then the manager gets called up and it’s fraud or something like that. So, you know, nope, here’s my ID.”