ANCESTRY.COM Reveals Mitt Romney's Presidential Genes: 2012 GOP Hopeful Is Related to Six Presidents
December 20 2011 - 8:00AM
Marketwired
As Americans prepare to cast their votes in the 2012 Republican
Presidential primaries and caucuses starting January 3 in Iowa,
Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) today announced that several key
Republican presidential contenders have historic political leaders
in their genes -- suggesting that the upcoming primaries are really
one grand ol' family party.
The world's largest online family history resource has
discovered that Mitt Romney leads the pack in presidential lineage
with six former Commanders-in-Chief in his family history. The
former Massachusetts governor's family tree includes relations to
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Pierce, Hoover and both
President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
- Romney is connected to Presidents George W. Bush (10th cousins,
twice removed), George H. W. Bush (10th cousins, once removed) and
Franklin D. Roosevelt (8th cousins, twice removed) through Ann
Marbury Hutchinson, a key figure in the development of religious
freedom in America and early settler of Rhode Island and New
York.
- Romney is related to Presidents Calvin Coolidge (10th cousins),
Herbert Hoover (10th cousins) and Franklin Pierce (6th cousins, 4
times removed) through Thomas Richardson, an English landowner in
the late 1500s from Hertfordshire.
Not far behind in presidential pedigree is former Utah Governor
Jon Huntsman, whose family tree boasts four former heads of state:
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Coolidge and both Presidents
Bush.
- Huntsman is related to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt (8th
cousins, 3 times removed), George H.W. Bush (11th cousins) and
George W. Bush (11th cousins, once removed) through Ann Marbury
Hutchinson.
- Huntsman and President Calvin Coolidge are 7th cousins, 3 times
removed, through William Goddard, who brought his family to
Massachusetts colony in 1665, escaping London's plague and
searching for better opportunities. Goddard appears to have had a
slight political slant himself -- serving in the town government of
Watertown, Mass.
The buck stops with Texas Governor Rick Perry, who can claim
President Harry Truman and legendary Texas Governor Sam Houston in
his tree.
- Fifth cousins, 4 times removed, Perry and Truman are related
through Thomas Shipp, who was born in Virginia in the early 1700s,
the son and grandson of early Virginia settlers.
- Governor Perry's home state pride is in his blood as
Ancestry.com discovered he is first cousins, six times removed,
from Sam Houston, former President of the Republic of Texas, Texas
Governor and State Senator. Perry and Houston are connected through
John Paxton, a Revolutionary War patriot. Although Houston resigned
as Governor rather than swear allegiance to the Confederacy,
Governor Perry has many other ancestors who fought on the side of
the Confederacy during the Civil War.
"We find in these politicians' family trees links to the
foundations of the country -- early settlers seeking freedom and
opportunities, Revolutionary War patriots, and even American
legends," said Anastasia Harman, Lead Family Historian for
Ancestry.com. "Time and again American politicians have family ties
to our country's founders and past leaders. It seems the traits
that forged past leaders have been handed down through generations
to our current and hopeful leaders."
These political and historical connections extend into the
current Commander-in-Chief's family tree as well:
- In 2010, Ancestry.com connected President Obama to former Vice
Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and conservative radio host Rush
Limbaugh.
- Ancestry.com also found that Obama and billionaire financial
investor Warren Buffett are related.
- In 2008, Ancestry.com discovered that then-Governor Palin is a
distant cousin to both Franklin D. Roosevelt and the late Princess
of Wales.
- In 2007, Ancestry.com first shed light on then-candidate Barack
Obama's Irish roots, tracing his ancestry to a 3rd
great-grandfather who escaped the Irish Potato Famine and settled
in Ohio in 1850.
For anyone interested in discovering the American founders,
legends or politicians in their own family tree, visit
www.ancestry.com.
About Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) is the
world's largest online family history resource, with approximately
1.7 million paying subscribers. More than 7 billion records have
been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have
created more than 29 million family trees containing over 3 billion
profiles. In addition to its flagship site www.ancestry.com,
Ancestry.com offers localized Web sites designed for nine countries
that empower people to discover, preserve and share their family
history.
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Contacts: Susan Roth Roth PR 301-530-3539 prsue@rothpr.com Sean
Pate Ancestry.com 415-744-1756 spate@ancestry.com
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