US presidential hopeful Barack Obama turns out to be a distant relative not only of President George W. Bush but also of wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill, according to US researchers.
 
US presidential hopeful Barack Obama turns out to be a distant relative not only of President George W. Bush but also of wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill, according to US researchers.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society traced the family trees of the three major presidential candidates, also revealing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's ties to pop icon¹ Madonna and Beat generation writer Jack² Kerouac.

"You'd think with all that singing talent in the family she'd be able to carry a tune," Clinton's senior adviser³ Philippe Reines said. "But now it makes much more sense how she snagged a Grammy."

Clinton won for best spoken word Grammy in 1997 for "It Takes a Village."

And while Obama and Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt are ninth cousins who share a relative who died in 1769, Clinton is a ninth cousin twice removed of Pitt's partner Angelina Jolie, sharing a common ancestor who died in 1718.

Clinton is meanwhile also related to a number of celebrities⁴ with French Canadian ancestry⁵, including singers Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette.

"It is common to find people of French Canadian descent to be related to large numbers of other French Canadians," said genealogist⁶ Christopher Child, who conducted the research.

On the Republican side, John McCain's family tree came up with perhaps less surprising results, revealing mainly that he was a sixth cousin of First Lady Laura Bush.

Other ties established by the genealogical society linked Obama to former presidents Gerald Ford⁷, Lyndon Johnson and Harry⁸ Truman, and to Civil War General Robert Lee.

 
美国研究人员日前称，美国总统竞选人巴拉克•奥巴马不仅是现任总统乔治•W•布什的远亲，而且与“二战”时期的英国首相温斯顿•丘吉尔还沾亲带故。

新英格兰历史宗谱学会对美国三大总统竞选人的家谱进行研究后发现，民主党总统竞选人希拉里•克林顿与流行天后麦当娜和“垮掉的一代”代表作家杰克•克鲁亚克都是亲戚。

希拉里的高级顾问菲利普•莱内斯说：“你也许会想，有了家族遗传的唱歌天分，希拉里唱歌应该不会走调才是。不过现在看来，她得格莱美奖是情理之中的事。”

1997年，希拉里凭借作品《一村之力》获格莱美“最佳专辑朗诵奖”。

据称，奥巴马和好莱坞“万人迷”布拉德•皮特是第九代表亲，他们的共同祖先于1769年去世；希拉里•克林顿则是皮特女友安吉利娜•茱丽的第九代表亲，她们的共同祖先于1718年去世。

此外，克林顿与歌手席琳•迪翁和艾拉妮丝·莫莉塞特等很多法裔加拿大名人都有亲戚关系。

开展该研究的系谱专家克里斯托夫•洽德说：“具有法裔加拿大血统的人与其他很多法裔加拿大人有亲戚关系，这很正常。”

有关共和党总统竞选人约翰•麦凯恩的研究结果可能没那么令人惊讶。研究发现，他是第一夫人劳拉•布什的第六代表亲。

该学会还发现，奥巴马与美国前任总统杰拉德•福特、林顿•约翰森和哈里•特鲁曼，以及南北战争时期的罗伯特•李将军都是亲戚。

Vocabulary: 

distant relative:远亲

cousin once/twice etc removed: the child, grandchild etc of your cousin, or your cousin's father, grandfather etc（堂/表兄弟/姐妹的孩子或孙子/父亲或祖父）