NEW YORK —

U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama turns out to be a distant relative not only of President George W Bush but also of wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill, according to U.S. researchers.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society traced the family trees of the three major presidential candidates, also revealing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s ties to pop icon Madonna and Beat generation writer Jack Kerouac.

And while Obama and Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt are ninth cousins who share a relative who died in 1769, Clinton is a ninth cousin twice removed of Pitt’s partner Angelina Jolie, sharing a common ancestor who died in 1718.

Clinton is also related to a number of celebrities with French Canadian ancestry, including singers Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette.

“It is common to find people of French Canadian descent to be related to large numbers of other French Canadians,” said genealogist Christopher Child, who conducted the research.

On the Republican side, John McCain’s family tree came up with perhaps less surprising results, revealing mainly that he was a sixth cousin of First Lady Laura Bush.

Other ties established by the genealogical society linked Obama to former presidents Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, and to Civil War General Robert Lee.

AFP

8 Comments

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  Altria at 03:01 PM JST - 26th March

  Hmm...doesn't Obama have any black relatives?

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  Altria at 03:21 PM JST - 26th March

  Anyway, according to various local sources I am Brad Pitt, Beckham, Tom Cruise, DiCaprio and Rolf Harris all rolled into one.

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  SushiSake2 at 03:36 PM JST - 26th March

  Who researches this stuff?

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  RomeoRamen2 at 03:46 PM JST - 26th March

  Just like his white grandmother, it won't be long before ol' barack throws those relatives under the bus, too.

  RR

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  Taka313 at 04:05 PM JST - 26th March

  Obama is going throw bush under the bus?

  Man, considering how much bush's presidency has cost the country, we should auction off the keys to said bus. That would pay for bush's war in no time.

  Taka

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  cleo at 04:41 PM JST - 26th March

  You can pick up a pile of ancestry info just off the Internet. It's fascinating stuff. I've gone back to the 16th century and haven't found any famous people in my family yet (though I did find a couple of certified lunatics and the World's Worst Poet!). Go far enough back and we're all related to everyone else, aren't we?

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  Zorro at 06:39 PM JST - 26th March

  Obama is a uniter, right down to his DNA!

  And he does not even own a bus.

  ZZ

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  Taka313 at 09:58 PM JST - 26th March

  "Other ties established by the genealogical society linked Obama to former presidents Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, and to Civil War General Robert Lee."

  And they say Sen. Obama isn't experienced enough to be president. As Zombie Zorro pointed out, his experience stems all the way from his DNA!

  Hard to top that. ;-)

  Taka

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