{"id":1849,"date":"2012-10-12T18:28:15","date_gmt":"2012-10-12T18:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2013-09-12T15:34:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T15:34:24","slug":"obama-romney-are-family-genealogy-infographic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/obama-romney-are-family-genealogy-infographic.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama & Romney Are Related! Genealogy Infographic"},"content":{"rendered":"

In time for the 2012 election countdown, I recently did some genealogy research to learn more about the background of both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, and guess what\u2014they\u2019re related!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more: they\u2019re also related to several former U.S. presidents, English kings, outlaws and celebrities. This is really huge! So huge in fact that our team at GenealogyBank decided to create this Infographic to show many of these surprising genealogical findings.<\/p>\n

Click the image for the even bigger full-size Infographic<\/a> version.<\/p>\n

\"Obama<\/a><\/div>\n

Obama & Romney Are Related?<\/h2>\n

Yes. Obama and Romney are both direct descendants of King Edward I of England, who was the eldest son of King Henry III and himself a father to numerous children by his two wives, Queens Eleanor and Margaret. King Edward I was perhaps the most successful of the medieval English monarchs. Known as \u201cLongshanks\u201d due to his great height and stature, King Edward I stood head and shoulders above other men of his time, towering at a height of 6\u20192. Romney and Obama are chips off the old block, both over six feet tall. Romney measures in at 6\u20192 and Obama at 6\u20191.<\/p>\n

Several U.S. Presidents as Cousins-in-Common<\/h2>\n

The 2012 presidential candidates not only share a royal ancestor, they also have many distant cousins-in-common. These distant relatives form the impressive lineup of United States presidents featured in the White House Family Reunion photo in the Infographic above.<\/p>\n

Obama and Romney\u2019s U.S. president distant cousins-in-common include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • James Madison \u2013 4th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • William Harrison \u2013 9th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Zachary Taylor \u2013 12th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Ulysses S. Grant \u2013 18th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Benjamin Harrison \u2013 23rd President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Grover Cleveland \u2013 24th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Warren G. Harding \u2013 29th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Calvin Coolidge \u2013 30th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Richard Nixon \u2013 37th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Gerald Ford \u2013 38th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • Jimmy Carter \u2013 39th President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • George W. Bush \u2013 43rd President of the United States<\/li>\n
  • George H.W. Bush \u2013 41st President of the United States<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Early American Presidential Roots<\/h2>\n

    Obama and Romney also have deep early American roots in their respective family trees. Mayflower<\/em> passengers Edward and Samuel Fuller are both direct ancestors of Mitt Romney. They were part of the group of Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.<\/p>\n

    Romney is also a distant cousin to the early American President Thomas Jefferson, and Obama is a distant cousin to President George Washington.<\/p>\n

    Wild West Outlaw Kin<\/h2>\n

    Another interesting ancestral find was that each of the presidential nominees is a distant relation to notorious American Wild West gunslingers. Wild Bill Hickok is a distant cousin to Obama, and William H. Bonney a.k.a. \u201cBilly the Kid\u201d is a distant cousin to Romney. Also noteworthy is that Romney is a relation to famous American actor Clint Eastwood, who has starred in many hit Western movies such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Star-Studded Family Trees<\/h2>\n

    Both of the 2012 election candidates share their family trees with Hollywood megastars, as well as other celebrities ranging from renowned American artists to British royalty.<\/p>\n

    Obama is a distant cousin to the following celebrities:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Brad Pitt \u2013 Hollywood Megastar<\/li>\n
    • Elvis Presley \u2013 King of Rock & Roll<\/li>\n
    • Georgia O\u2019Keeffe \u2013 Famous American Artist & Painter<\/li>\n
    • Robert Duvall \u2013 Hollywood Actor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Romney\u2019s family tree also has many movie stars and famous people. His distant cousins include:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Clint Eastwood \u2013 Hollywood Megastar<\/li>\n
      • Alec Baldwin \u2013Hollywood Actor<\/li>\n
      • Princess Diana \u2013 Former Princess of Wales<\/li>\n
      • Katherine Hepburn \u2013 Earlier Hollywood Megastar<\/li>\n
      • Julia Child \u2013 Famous Chef, TV Personality and Author<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Both Have Foreign-Born Fathers<\/h2>\n

        President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to parents Stanley Ann Dunham and Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. The Infographic features an old photo of Barack Obama II as a child with his mother Ann.<\/p>\n

        President Obama\u2019s father was born in 1936 in Kanyadhiang Village, Kenya. The Infographic features an old picture of President Obama\u2019s dad Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., as an infant with the president\u2019s paternal grandmother Habiba Akumu Obama.<\/p>\n

        Governor Romney was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan, to parents Lenore and George W. Romney. The old family photograph in the Infographic shows the governor as a baby with his mom and dad.<\/p>\n

        Mitt Romney\u2019s father George W. Romney, the former governor of Michigan, was born in 1907 in Colonia Dubl\u00e1n, Mexico. The old picture in the Infographic shows Romney\u2019s father as a child with Mitt\u2019s grandma Anna Amelia Pratt Romney.<\/p>\n

        Who knew the presidential candidates shared so many family connections? We\u2019re continuing our ancestral exploration into the 2012 U.S. presidential candidates\u2019 family trees. Make sure to stay tuned by following us here on the blog and on Facebook, Twitter or G+ to get more Obama and Romney family history.<\/p>\n

        It\u2019s a great day for genealogy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        In time for the 2012 election countdown, I recently did some genealogy research to learn more about the background of both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, and guess what\u2014they\u2019re related! What\u2019s more: they\u2019re also related to several former U.S. presidents, English kings, outlaws and celebrities. This is really huge! So huge in fact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[3,4904,4895,4899,845,3432,5282,5287,4900,4901,5291,1230,4897,5304,1129,1656,1762,12,1661,4907,558,5197,4903,1101,4905,2191,4902,2611,5351,4911,5352,4909,4896,4910,760,1103,4894,1761,27,5370,1689,5430,2683,4906,4908,3153,2059,442,4060,4898],"class_list":["post-1849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-ancestry","tag-ann-dunham","tag-anna-amelia-pratt-romney","tag-barack-hussein-obama","tag-barack-obama","tag-billy-the-kid","tag-british","tag-carter","tag-clint-eastwood","tag-colonia-dublan","tag-cousin","tag-detroit","tag-edward-fuller","tag-english","tag-family","tag-family-tree","tag-father","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogybank-2","tag-george-w-romney","tag-george-washington","tag-grandmother","tag-habiba-akumu-obama","tag-hawaii","tag-henry-iii","tag-history","tag-honolulu","tag-infographic","tag-james","tag-kenya","tag-king","tag-latter-day-saint-movement","tag-lenore-romney","tag-marion-g-romney","tag-mexico","tag-michigan","tag-mitt-romney","tag-mother","tag-newspapers","tag-people","tag-president","tag-research","tag-samuel-fuller","tag-stanley-ann-dunham","tag-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-thomas-jefferson","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-white-house","tag-william-h-bonney"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}