Politics
Obama Related to George Bush, Clinton to Angelina Jolie
By Ann Turner

Mar 26, 2008

Barack Obama

A research study conducted by the New England Historic Genealogical Society has turned up a variety of interesting relations to the current Democratic & Republican presidential candidates. According to the study, Barack Obama is distantly related to such luminaries as George W. Bush and Brad Pitt, while Hillary Clinton has familial ties to Angelina Jolie and Madonna. John McCain turns out to be a cousin of First Lady Laura Bush.  

The non-profit New England Historic Genealogical Society recently traced the family trees of both the leading Democratic presidential candidates and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. All three candidates turned out to have several celebrity names listed in their family histories, although the relationships are in most cases quite distant.  

Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who was born in Kansas, can lay claim to at least six past U.S. presidents in his genealogical tree— George W. Bush & his father, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford and James Madison. Obama and the current President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, according to the study. Obama is also distantly related to movie star Brad Pitt and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Other cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney and British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.  

Hillary Clinton holds family ties to Pitt's girlfriend Angelina Jolie and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles. The former First Lady is also related to Madonna, Celine Dion, Alanis Morisette and author Jack Kerouac.  

Genealogist Christopher Child said in a statement released to the press that tracing Arizona Senator John McCain's genealogical backgrounds was more difficult because his Southern heritage makes "notable connections somewhat harder to trace because of challenges of genealogists in that region."  

One distant relative the society was able to trace led to current First Lady Laura Bush, whom is allegedly McCain's sixth cousin. McCain previously claimed he was related to Scottish king Robert the Bruce, according to the Guardion. However, British genealogists claim they have found no evidence of the relation and the New England researchers failed to find a connection either.