The families of all the presidents with the exception of one are intertwined according to a school project done by a young girl in California. When she set out to trace the lineage of all the presidents she came to a shocking conclusion and was able to link all of their ancestry on one side or another to one single ancestor. All of them except one, that is. And you may be surprised by which one wasn’t included in the survey.
The young girl found that every president, including the current one, Barack Obama, could trace his lineage back to King John Lackland and therefore the current royalty of England. The one that was not included in the lineage (as far as her research suggest) was Martin Van Buren, the Eighth president of the United States starting in 1837 and his term in office lasted until 1841. And if the idea of all the presidents being somehow related strikes you as odd, you’re not alone. A number of people across the web have suggested they smell a conspiracy.
From George Washington to Barack Obama only the eighth president was not connected to British Royalty. And that has some suggesting the presidency is rigged and caters only to those loyal to the crown by blood.
Van Buren was blamed for the economic depression of 1837 and dubbed “Martin Van Ruin” by those opposing his third party political platform. His short term in office was succeeded by William Henry Harrison who died after only 32 days in office – the shortest presidency in the history of the United States and the first death in office. His vice president, and blood relative John Tyler Jr. followed in his footsteps and was eventually succeeded by Zachary Taylor, who was also related through this common ancestor.
But being related to the presidents isn’t as exclusive a club as it might seem at first. Anyone, including the girl who first discovered the link could be related to this common ancestor after so many years. In fact, BridgeAnne d’Avignon found that she too was related to president Obama separated by being 18th cousins. When the family tree is so complete, it’s foreseeable that eventually the web of relations spreading across the United States could be discovered and allow for a true family tree to form.
But if we were to trace even further up the family tree it seems most would find some common ancestor at some point or another intertwining family trees, though we may all be distant cousins a couple dozen times removed or more. But could there be something more to it in the case of the presidents? Is some unseen hand guiding the selection of presidents to ensure only Royal blood stays in office? It certainly does seem like a story worth digging deeper into.