FOUR SCORE AND THREE TOY STORIES AGO:
So when's Tom Hanks gonna play Lincoln, already?Okay, it's not just a theory - it's a fact. Way too many people in politics were - and are - related to other politicians and equally famous folks.
See the whole blah-blah below:
Direct DescentThe United States Presidents who are related to each other by direct descent are:
• John Adams and John Quincy Adams (father and son)
• William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison (grandfather and grandson)
• George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush (father and son)
Indirect Relatives
This is a list of some of the closer blood relations, other than direct descent, between U.S. Presidents.
Second Cousins
• Thomas Jefferson and William Henry Harrison
• James Madison and Zachary Taylor
• James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor
Third Cousins
• George Washington and Zachary Taylor (once removed)
• Martin Van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt (three times removed)
• Martin Van Buren and Franklin D. Roosevelt (four times removed)
• George Washington and Grover Cleveland (four times removed)
• John Adams and Calvin Coolidge (five times removed)
• John Quincy Adams and Calvin Coolidge (six times removed)
• George Washington and Bill Clinton (six times removed's husband)*
• George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt (nine times removed)
Fourth Cousins
• William Henry Harrison and John Tyler (once removed)
• Ulysses Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt (once removed)
• Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Harrison (once removed)
• John Adams and Millard Fillmore (three times removed)
• John Quincy Adams and Franklin D. Roosevelt (three times removed)
• Zachary Taylor and Franklin D. Roosevelt (half-cousins, three times removed)
• James Garfield and George H. W. Bush (three times removed)
• John Quincy Adams and Millard Fillmore (four times removed)
• James Garfield and George W. Bush (four times removed)
• Harry Truman and Barack Obama (four times removed)
• George Washington and George H. W. Bush (nine times removed)
• George Washington and George W. Bush (ten times removed)
Fifth Cousins
• Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt
• Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland (once removed)
• Rutherford Hayes and Grover Cleveland (once removed)
• John Tyler and Benjamin Harrison (once removed)
• James Garfield and William Taft (once removed)
• John Quincy Adams and Millard Fillmore (twice removed)
• Millard Fillmore and Warren Harding (twice removed)
• Ulysses Grant and Calvin Coolidge (three times removed)
• George Washington and Benjamin Harrison (three times removed)
• John Quincy Adams and William Taft (four times removed)
• Millard Fillmore and Herbert Hoover (four times removed)
• Franklin Pierce and George H. W. Bush (in-law four times removed)
• Grover Cleveland and Gerald Ford (four times removed)
• Millard Fillmore and Gerald Ford (five times removed)
• Franklin Pierce and George W. Bush (five times removed)
Relations to Vice Presidents
Many presidents may also end up being related to their own vice president, or just to another vice president in general. Examples:
Fifth Cousins
• George Washington and Aaron Burr (three times removed)
Relations to other famous individuals
2nd Cousins
• Thomas Jefferson and Carter Harrison
• William Henry Harrison and Robert E. Lee
• George Washington and Meriwether Lewis (once removed)
3rd Cousins
• Thomas Jefferson and John Harrison (once removed)
• Benjamin Harrison and Robert E. Lee (once removed)
• Zachary Taylor and Robert E. Lee (once removed)
• George Washington and Robert E. Lee (twice removed)
4th Cousins
• John Adams and John Hancock (once removed)
• Thomas Jefferson and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (8 times removed)
5th Cousins
• Millard Fillmore and Humphrey Bogart (three times removed)
• Millard Fillmore and Tennessee Williams (three times removed)
• Millard Fillmore and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (six times removed)
7th Cousins
• Jimmy Carter and Elvis Presley
Other RelationshipsEvidence has also shown 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, is related to movie actor Tom Hanks through Nancy Hanks, Lincoln's mother.Presidents Related to Royalty
Presidents Related to British Royalty
• George Washington (descendant of Edward III of England)
• Thomas Jefferson (descendant of Edward III of England)
• James Madison (descendant of Edward I of England)
• James Monroe (descendant of Edward III of England)
• John Quincy Adams (descendant of Edward III of England)
• William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison (descendants of Edward I of England)
• Zachary Taylor (descendant of Edward I of England)
• Franklin Pierce (descendant of Henry I of England)
• Rutherford Hayes (descendant of William I of Scotland and William the Conqueror)
• Grover Cleveland (descendant of Edward I of England)
• Theodore Roosevelt (descendant of James I of Scotland and Edward III of England)
• William Taft (descendant of Edward III of England)
• Warren Harding (descendant of Henry II of England)
• Calvin Coolidge (descendant of Edward I of England)
• Herbert Hoover (descendant of Edward III of England)
• Franklin Roosevelt (descendant of James II of Scotland)
• Harry S. Truman (descendant of Robert III of Scotland)
• Richard Nixon (descendant of Henry II of England)
• Gerald Ford (descendant of Edward I of England)
• Jimmy Carter (descendant of Edward III of England)
• George H. W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush (descendants of Edward I of England and Robert II of Scotland)
• Barack Obama (descendant of Edward I of England and William the Lion of Scotland)
As a result, all of the listed people are direct descendants of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror.
HM Queen Elizabeth II is among the closest living relatives of George Washington, through their descent from Augustine Warner, Jr., Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. His daughter Mildred was the grandmother of Washington, while his daughter Mary is an ancestor of the Queen's mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Presidents Related to Irish Royalty
• George Washington (descendant of Dermot MacMurrough)
• Andrew Jackson (descendant of Dermot MacMurrough)
• Ronald Reagan (descendant of Brian Boru)
• Barack Obama (descendant of Brian Boru)
Presidents Related to Other Royalty
• Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt are related to the Rajahs of Sarawak
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_relationships_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States)