I normally don't comment on these stories but there seems to be a flood of them in the past few days. Of course, everyone whose ancestors have been in the United States for at least two or three centuries is likely to be related to most everyone else with similar ancestry. Therefore, it isn't much of a surprise to find that any one of us is related to a few million other people.
Here are the latest claims about President Barack Obama's relatives:
- He is distantly related to Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin (10th cousins)
- He is distantly related to conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh (10th cousins)
- He is distantly related to former President George W. Bush
All of the above facts were published by Ancestry.com. You can read more at http://goo.gl/5PZq
Next, Barack Obama is the first United States president reported to have Mormon ancestry. Note that he is reportedly a DESCENDANT of the lady mentioned, not simply "a distant relative of."
President Obama reportedly is a great-great-grandson of Nancy Ann Childress Osburn Armour Turner, who was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS).
NOTE: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or RLDS) with headquarters in Independence, Missouri is not the same group as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or LDS), with headquarters in Salt Lake City. Both groups call themselves Mormons and both follow the teachings of Mormon founder Joseph Smith. However, those who now call themselves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are those who followed Brigham Young in 1847 to Salt Lake City while the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ) remained behind, did not follow Brigham Young, and many of them settled in Missouri. Both groups have since recruited many more members.
You can read more about Barack Obama's Mormon ancestry at http://goo.gl/LE8s in an article that seems to provide good references to his line of descent from Mormon Nancy Ann Childress Osburn Armour Turner (1848-1924).
Previously-published articles have claimed to have found Barack Obama's relationship to Dick Cheney, Wild Bill Hickok, Warren Buffett, actor Brad Pitt as well as to all the other U.S. presidents except Martin Van Buren.
Ancestry.com also states that Sarah Palin is related to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and author and commentator Ann Coulter. The site also earlier found family ties between Palin and Princess Diana.
I haven't seen the source documents of any of these claims but none of them surprise me. Each of us has millions of distant cousins. It would be hard to imagine that any of us are NOT related to a few dozen celebrities.
I suspect that Barack Obama is also related to me, although I haven't yet found the connection. Admittedly, I'm not working too hard on proving it. I suspect Obama is related to you as well.
Now here's a challenge: is there anyone in the U.S., other than a recent immigrant, that any of these people are NOT related to?
Turn DOWN the volume for your computer's volume a bit and listen to "One Big (Happy) Family" by Tonio K. at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V150x9V1Ymw or click on the image below:
