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Ancestry
The ancestry of our presidents offers a varied and rich tapestry that reflects our history as a nation of immigrants. While our early presidents are predominantly white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, the majority of our 20th century presidents are of Irish descent.
After President John F. Kennedy’s ascension to the Oval Office in 1961, every president who has occupied the office since has an Irish ancestor somewhere in their genealogical history, with the exception of President Gerald Ford. In fact, according to Gary Boyd Roberts in his book, Ancestors of American Presidents, there have been no less than 20 American presidents with Irish ancestries.
The Pilgrims of the Mayflower also made a notable contribution to the roster, with eight of their descendants becoming president of the country (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Franklin D Roosevelt, George H.W Bush and George Walker Bush).
Despite several claims to the contrary, most notably involving former President Warren Harding, our current president, Barack Obama, is the first African-American to hold the Oval Office.
We also have three presidents with German ancestry (Polk, Hoover and Eisenhower), three Dutch (Van Buren and both president Bush) and one Danish (Johnson).
What about our candidates? Let’s take a look.
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Gingrich Ancestry
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• The various branches of the Gingrich family have lived in Pennsylvania as far back as the early 1600’s. There are three ancestors listed in his family tree that were not born in America but in Scotland, Switzerland and Germany.
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
3-Tour Combat Vet, Philosopher and Law Student
RJ Harris
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Harris Ancestry
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Native American of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Descendent of Irish settlers in Oklahoma
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
Former Governor of New Mexico
Gary Johnson
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Johnson Ancestry
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Johnson is of Danish, Norwegian and Russian ancestry.
His paternal grandfather was from Denmark and grandmother was Norwegian.
On his maternal side, his grandparents, William and Vera (Korneychuk) Bostow, were both from Russia.
(Information provided by Mr. Michael Hurdle)
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Karger Ancestry
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Jewish
More on Karger
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Lane Ancestry
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English/German/Irish
More on Lane
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Declared 2012
Democratic Presidential Candidate
Current President of the United States
Barack Obama
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Obama Ancestry
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Obama is of mixed African and Caucasian parentage. His father, Barack Obama Sr., is an ethnic Kenyan Luo from the Nyanza province.
His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, is a Caucasian of English, Scottish, Irish, French, Swiss, German and Welsh descent. Dunham’s great-great-great-great-great grandfather from the maternal line, Christian Gutknecht Goodnight, was originally from Bischwiller, France, and arrived here in 1749 with his Swiss-German wife, Maria Magdalena Grüholtz (1723- unknown).
Dunham’s eighth generation paternal grandfather, Jonathan Singletary Dunham (1639-1724), is of English/Scottish stock. His lineage can be traced back to Edward I of England (1239 – 1307) and William the Lion (1143–1214). Robert Perry (1785-1852), her great-great-great grandfather from her maternal line, is a Welshmen. Dunham’s paternal great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney (1830-1878), arrived in New York City in 1850 from Moneygall, Ireland.
President Obama and wife, Michelle, greeting Henry Healy, his distant
cousin, during a visit to Moneygall, Ireland, on May 23, 2011.
Obama, through his maternal great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Philip Ament (1755-1836), is related to Lyndon B. Johnson, the country’s 36th President, who is the great- great- great-grandson of Ament. He is also the eighth cousin, twice removed, of the 39th President, Jimmy Carter, through his seventh generation maternal grandfather, Moses Teague (1718-1799). Interestingly, Obama is the tenth cousin of former presidents Gerald Ford (once removed), George H.W Bush (once removed) and George W. Bush (twice removed) through his tenth generation paternal grandfather, Samuel Hinckley (1589-1662). Obama is, additionally, the distant relative of two more former United States Presidents, James Madison and Harry Truman, as well as former Vice President, Dick Cheney.
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Paul Ancestry
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• Ron Paul has strong German ancestry
• His grandfather immigrated from Germany at the age of 14 and 6 months later his father died, leaving him alone in a strange country.
• Paul’s grandfather became a truck farmer in Pennsylvania and eventually started a successful dairy farm. He had 4 sons and 1 daughter. His second son, Howard, was Ron Paul’s father.
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
New York attorney and founder of the Paralegal Institute
Carl Person
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Person Ancestry
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• Person’s grandmother was a pioneer who settled in Nebraska near the end of the 19th Century.
• His great-grandfather was a New Hampshire Justice of the Peace.
• Carl Person has been told that his ancestors came to the country on the Mayflower.
More on Person
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Romney Ancestry
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While Romney’s documented ancestry does not quite reach the heights of the family legend, which claimed that they are descendants of the fourth-century dragon slayer, St. George (the patron saint of England), it is still an impressive one, with some of the most celebrated thinkers (maternal great-grandfather, Parley Parker Pratt, was one of the chief literary defenders of Mormonism), famed fighters (Carl Heinrich, a member of the Prussian army, and later, Utah’s militia) and natural leaders (Miles Romney, who founded and administered the Mormon sanctuary in Mexico in the 19th century) of post-Independence America.
The family can trace their lineage to modern England, Scotland and Germany. Miles Park Romney, Mitt’s great-great grandfather (paternal), hails from Lancashire, England, while on the maternal side, Archibald Newell Hill was a resident of Renfrew, Scotland. His great-great grandfather, the legendary Prussian soldier, Carl Heinrich, was a native of Holstein, Germany.
Romney's family tree is rife with polygamists on the paternal side, though there is no indication of polygamy on the maternal side of his family. According to a research by The Salt Lake Tribune, Romney's ancestry harbors six polygamous men with forty-one wives. Romney, however, is a confirmed monogamist and polygamy has been absent in his family background for more than two generations.
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Santorum Ancestry
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Pennsylvanian Santorum can trace his roots back through both his paternal and maternal line to Riva de Garda, Italy.
More on Santorum
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Snyder Ancestry
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Americans, and those who wanted to be
More on Snyder
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Wuensche Ancestry
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• Vern Wuensche’s parents were both Wends - descendents of a sect of Germans who immigrated to Texas in 1845 and 1854 for religious freedom. Wends had their own language and customs, had been denied the right to own property in Germany and were told to worship in the state church which was not their beloved Lutheran Church.
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