Richard C. Weaver is a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

n man known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

Handshake Man. Weaver has earned notoriety for frequently bypassing the US

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

and shaking the hand of the

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

. Weaver claims his

handshake A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's hands, and in most cases, it is accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding hands ...

s are often used as a way of passing "notes from God" to the presidents. According to his site, Weaver is a

born-again To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

Christian who is married to Donna Weaver and has two children, Cindy and David. He also believes that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

has directly spoken to him and calls himself a "modern-day prophet". In late 2008, Weaver stated that he would not attempt to shake

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's hand due to an ongoing ban from Washington D.C. that had yet to expire.

Pre 2001

Richard C. Weaver claims to have shaken the hand of four US Presidents after

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. However, with little evidence of such events, it is unknown if these instances actually occurred. The only confirmed event was the 1997 inauguration of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

where Weaver managed to shake Clinton's hand. Despite the incident having led the Secret Service to prepare for his return, Weaver was able to bypass security and meet the then recently inaugurated

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in 2001. (Weaver's website displays a picture of him meeting President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

2001 Presidential Inauguration

On the January 20 inauguration event of 2001, Weaver was able to meet

and hand him a coin after he had been sworn in as President. Weaver had a standing-room-only ticket that would only allow him access to the event. Despite having been shown tapes of a similar meeting between Weaver and former president

, the Secret Service were not able to catch him. Although

Ari Fleischer Lawrence Ari Fleischer (born October 13, 1960) is an American media consultant and political aide who served as the 23rd White House press secretary, for President George W. Bush, from January 2001 to July 2003. As press secretary in the Bush ...

insisted that the president was in no danger, U.S. Capitol Police took the matter seriously as a breach of security.

Post 2001

On February 6, 2003 Weaver attended the National Prayer Breakfast meeting and was able to hand Bush an eight-page typed letter about

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

"from God". At George W. Bush's second inauguration in 2005, Weaver was arrested on an outstanding warrant related to his prior presidential photo stunts. On December 8, 2009, CNN's website discussed an unreleased Secret Service document used for training purposes which discusses various instances where individuals have bypassed the Secret Service and gained access to the president. This document credits Mr. Weaver with four instances of having gained access to a president.

References

External links

Richard Weaver's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Richard C. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American Christian clergy People from Rocklin, California