Genealogists call Bush and Kerry kin

[CatWoman]

oh...........dear.........God

Big Isle researchers claim
the president and his top
opponent are distant cousins


By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press

Democratic presidential candidates are constantly being compared with the current commander in chief. Now, two Hawaii genealogy buffs say they have proof President Bush and the current Democratic front-runner share similarities thicker than water.

Bruce and Kristine Harrison, publishers of historical databases, traced back the family histories of Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry.

The result? They're cousins.

Well, 16th cousins, three times removed, to be exact. But cousins, nonetheless.

http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/16/news/story3.html

[funky_bug]

1. That is too funny

That's WAY more than 7degrees of seperation. Wonder if they can link me to Teresa Heinz Kerry? That would make my day!

[Heritic]

2. (shivers uncontrollably)

Wow, if I found out I was relate to Bush, I think I would need to take a bath. In acid. And use a wire brush.

[ithacan]

19. yes it is disturbing

turns out I'm 12th cousins to shrub... :puke:

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. *cough* Skull & Bones *cough*

Welcome our new aristocratic overlords.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

4. I'm confused.

What is the difference between 3rd cousins 16 times removed, and 16th cousins 3 times removed? I'm sure there is a difference, but I find it hard to visualise.

[nightperson]

8. Hope these articles add perspective.

Many unremarkable Americans are more closely related to either guy. I'm actually surprised the link is so distant. "16th cousin, 3 times removed" means they don't share an ancestor until well before the 17th century. 1. http://www.magic-city-news.com/article_939.shtml 2.http://share-hodgson.org/cousins.html 3.http://www.familyforest.com/Kerry_Bush_Cousins.html

[Paranoid_Portlander]

9. Thanks for the links.

I didn't realize cousin relationships were so complicated, and this assumes that none of the cousins are married to each other (legal in some states), which would really tangle the family tree in a knot!

[DemBones DemBones]

11. A dozen years ago, i visited my 17th cousin in England,

stayed on his farm. The tie between us is one marriage made in the early 1600's.

And of course the farther back you can trace your family, the more people you find yourselves related to.

People whose families have had money find it much easier to trace their family because of property records. If my ancestors hadn't been wealthy, I wouldn't know nearly as much about who my people were and where they came from. If only they'd passed along some of that wealth!

[drfemoe]

13. Without reading up on geaneology

can you just give a clue about what "3 times removed" means? I think I already know about the "16th cousin" part.

[mo_lurker]

18. "removed" cousins

Think of it like this:

My daughter and my brother's daughter are 1st cousins
our grandaughters 2nd cousins
great grandaughters 3rd cousins

As long as they are on the "same level" there is nothing "removed"

However, the difference in "level" is what is removed. My daughter and my brother's grandaughter would be:
1st cousins (my daughter's level/the higher of the 2 levels) once removed (the difference in the two levels)

So 17th cousins 3 times removed means that 17 generations from Kerry and 20 from Bush (or vice versa) there were siblings, a great, great . . . dad/mom for both of them.

Hope that helps

[nannygoat]

5. I wonder what Burke's Peerage has to say about who will win this year's

election? Remember this from the 2000 election?

Victory is in the blood for 'aristocratic' Republican
http://www.guardian.co.uk/US_election_race/Story/0,2763,393341,00.html

<snip>

Special report: the US elections

Press Association
Monday November 6, 2000
The Guardian

The Republican George W Bush will be elected US president on November 7 because he has more royal blood than his opponent, it was claimed today.

The Texas governor has twice as many ties with aristocrats than his Democrat rival Al Gore, according to Burke's Peerage.

The company, which publishes books on ancestry, aristocracy and history, has predicted the outcome of the presidential race for almost 200 years. It says the candidate with the most royal blood has always been the victor.

Mr Bush has direct descents from William the Conqueror, Henry II and Charles II, according to Burke's Peerage.

More...

If only we knew which of our candidates had more 'royal' blood than * we'd win! :P

[Pillowbiter]

6. Well, weren't Cain and Able related?

and one of them was a really bad seed, if I recall.

PB

[arcos]

7. yes... Abel n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

12. er, , , wasn't it 'Cain slew Abel'?

Making Cain the first murderer, and putting the 'mark of Cain' on his descendants?

(They'd be the ones always 'raising Cain,' I suppose.) ;-)

[corporatewhore]

10. well he is related to powell too then there was a thread showing bush and

powell had similar family tree as well

[DemBones DemBones]

14. The article points out that Bush is likely related to

all the candidates, meaning Kerry is related to everyone else, too, and claims they're both related to Marilyn Monroe and Walt Disney.

It may be true. However, the guy releasing this info is selling a CD-ROM for amateur genealogists. I looked at his page and it's hard to tell without more investigation whether it's legit or like those "We Have Your Family Crest!" (for a price) ads in magazines. Legit or bogus, he'll make money because of the "Bush and Kerry are cousins" story.

[dkf]

15. Figures.

Yup, they are two of a kind.

[Maddy McCall]

16. kick

[Finch]

17. Dean+ Bush

Wasn’t Dean either related to…or is family was very close to the Bush’s at one point… its that whole settler aristocracy thing… Bush’s from Connecticut…Dean’s from Long Island... Kerry’s from Massachusetts… weird to see how their status endures for so long… Would’nt begrudge them their heritage though…

[Paulie]

20. The Quayles are much closer related don't forget

Dan Q and Pappy B, if memory serves from highschool, are like 3rd cousins.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

21. Kick.

.