Ancestral background of presidents of the United States

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Map showing ancestry

The ancestral background of presidents of the United States has been relatively consistent throughout American history. With the exception of John F. Kennedy, Martin Van Buren, and perhaps Dwight D. Eisenhower,[1] every president has ancestors from Great Britain. Kennedy was of pure Irish descent, Van Buren was of Dutch lineage; and Eisenhower was of German and Swiss heritage. Barack Obama is the only president to have recent ancestry from outside Western Europe; his paternal family is of the Luo people of East Africa. He is also believed to be a direct descendant of John Punch, a colonial-era slave born in modern-day Cameroon.

The most common ethnic groups in the Thirteen Colonies were those hailing from either Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Those of other backgrounds (such as Irish, Dutch, German or French) would see attempts to assimilate them into the dominant English and predominately Protestant culture.[2]

Some nativist political groups within the United States were adamantly opposed to identifying with a foreign nation and would coin those who did as hyphenated Americans. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were outspoken opponents of hyphenated Americans, with Wilson once remarking, "Any man who carries a hyphen about with him, carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic when he gets ready."[3]

Ancestry table[]

Summary: Dutch – 5 • English – 38 • French – 9 • German – 11 • Irish – 5 • Kenyan (Luo) – 1 • Scottish – 17 • Swiss – 3 • Ulster Scots – 21 • Welsh – 15

Order of presidency
 President
and parents
Dutch
Welsh
 Citations
1 George Washington
   Augustine Washington
   Mary Ball 		Yes Yes [4][5]
2 John Adams
   John Adams Sr.
   Susanna Boylston 		Yes Yes [6][7]
3 Thomas Jefferson
   Peter Jefferson
   Jane Randolph 		Yes Yes Yes [7][8][9]
4 James Madison
   James Madison Sr.
   Nelly Conway 		Yes Yes [8][10]
5 James Monroe
   Spence Monroe
   Elizabeth Jones 		Yes Yes Yes [6][7][8]
6 John Quincy Adams
   John Adams
   Abigail Smith 		Yes Yes [6][7]
7 Andrew Jackson
   Andrew Jackson
   Elizabeth Hutchinson 		Yes Yes Yes Yes [9][11][12] [13]
8 Martin Van Buren
   Abraham Van Buren
   Maria Hoes 		Yes [14][15]
9 William Henry Harrison
   Benjamin Harrison V
   Elizabeth Bassett 		Yes Yes Yes [6][7][16]
10 John Tyler
   John Tyler Sr.
   Mary Armisted 		Yes Yes [5][6]
11 James K. Polk
   Samuel Polk
   Jane Knox 		Yes Yes [9][11]
12 Zachary Taylor
   Richard Taylor
   Sarah Dabney Strother 		Yes [17]
13 Millard Fillmore
   Nathaniel Fillmore
   Phoebe Millard 		Yes [17]
14 Franklin Pierce
   Benjamin Pierce
   Anna Kendrick 		Yes [17]
15 James Buchanan
   James Buchanan Sr.
   Elizabeth Speer 		Yes [11]
16 Abraham Lincoln
   Thomas Lincoln
   Nancy Hanks 		Yes Yes Yes [6][7][11]
17 Andrew Johnson
   Jacob Johnson
   Mary McDonough 		Yes Yes Yes [16][17]
18 Ulysses S. Grant
   Jesse Root Grant
   Hannah Simpson 		Yes Yes Yes [6][11][17]
19 Rutherford B. Hayes
   Rutherford Hayes, Jr.
   Sophia Birchard 		Yes Yes [18]
20 James A. Garfield
   Abram Garfield
   Eliza Garfield 		Yes Yes Yes [5][7][17]
21 Chester A. Arthur
   William Arthur
   Malvina Stone 		Yes Yes Yes [8][16]
22/24 Grover Cleveland
   Richard Falley Cleveland
   Ann Neal 		Yes Yes Yes [8][11]
23 Benjamin Harrison
   John Scott Harrison
   Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin 		Yes Yes Yes [6][10][11]
25 William McKinley
   William McKinley Sr.
   Nancy Allison 		Yes Yes Yes [6][9][11]
26 Theodore Roosevelt
   Theodore Roosevelt Sr.
   Martha Bulloch 		Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes [5][7][8][15]
27 William Howard Taft
   Alphonso Taft
   Louise Torrey 		Yes [17]
28 Woodrow Wilson
   Joseph Ruggles Wilson
   Jessie Janet Woodrow 		Yes Yes [9][16]
29 Warren G. Harding
   George Tryon Harding
   Phoebe Elizabeth Dickerson 		Yes Yes Yes [8]
30 Calvin Coolidge
   John Calvin Coolidge Sr.
   Victoria Josephine Moor 		Yes Yes [6][10]
31 Herbert Hoover
   Jesse Hoover
   Hulda Randall Minthorn 		Yes Yes Yes [19][20]
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt
   James Roosevelt I
   Sara Ann Delano 		Yes Yes Yes [5][6][15]
33 Harry S. Truman
   John Anderson Truman
   Martha Ellen Young 		Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes [11][21]
34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
   David Jacob Eisenhower
   Ida Stover 		Yes Yes [20][22][23]
35 John F. Kennedy
   Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
   Rose Fitzgerald 		Yes [16][24]
36 Lyndon B. Johnson
   Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr.
   Rebekah Baines 		Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes [25]
37 Richard Nixon
   Francis A. Nixon
   Hannah Milhous 		Yes Yes Yes Yes [7][16][26]
38 Gerald Ford
   Leslie Lynch King Sr.
   Dorothy Ayer Gardner 		Yes Yes [27]
39 Jimmy Carter
   James Earl Carter Sr.
   Lillian Gordy 		Yes Yes [8][11]
40 Ronald Reagan
   Jack Reagan
   Nelle Wilson 		Yes Yes Yes [28][29]
41 George H. W. Bush
   Prescott Bush
   Dorothy Walker 		Yes Yes Yes Yes [8][11][30]
42 Bill Clinton
   William Jefferson Blythe Jr.
   Virginia Cassidy 		Yes Yes [8][11]
43 George W. Bush
   George H. W. Bush
   Barbara Pierce 		Yes Yes Yes Yes [8][11][30]
44 Barack Obama
 ��� Barack Obama Sr.
   Ann Dunham 		Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes [31][32]
45 Donald Trump
   Fred Trump
   Mary Anne MacLeod 		Yes Yes [9][33]
46 Joe Biden
   Joseph R. Biden Sr.
   Catherine Eugenia Finnegan 		Yes Yes Yes [34]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Roberts, Gary (1995). Ancestors of American Presidents. New England Historic Genealogical Society. p. 8. ISBN 0936124199. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ B. Moniz, Amanada (September 7, 2018). "Culture in the colonial classroom: A failed attempt at assimilation". National Museum of American History. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  3. ^ Siegel, Robert; Silverman, Art (April 7, 2017). "During World War I, U.S. Government Propaganda Erased German Culture". NPR. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  4. ^ Hardy, Rob. "Ancestry". The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington. Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Maureen A. (June 2001). "The French Connection". Family Tree Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fischer, David Hackett (1989). Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 834–839. ISBN 978-0-19-506905-1. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Williamson, David (October 27, 2017). "The American Presidents with family links to Wales". walesonline.co.uk. Cardiff, Wales, UK: Media Wales. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cullen, Niall (February 21, 2020). "A whistlestop tour of every US president's ancestry". findmypast.com. Dundee, Scotland, UK: DC Thomson. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Your Queries: From Scotland to the White House… Six presidents with Scottish ancestry". sundaypost.com. Glasgow, Scotland, UK: DC Thomson & Co. September 11, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "The Welsh in America". nawf.wales. Penarth, Wales, UK: North America Wales Foundation. 2016. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kennedy, Billy. "Ulster-Scots and the United States Presidents" (PDF). Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK: The Ulster-Scots Agency. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  12. ^ Elmer, Martin Jackson (1885). Keeping the Lamp of Remembrance Lighted: A Genealogical Narrative with Pictures and Charts about the Jacksons and Their Allied Families. Hagerstown, Maryland: Hagerstown Bookbinding & Printing Co. p. 9.
  13. ^ "US Presidents with Irish Heritage".
  14. ^ Silbey, Joel (October 4, 2016). "Martin Van Buren: Life Before the Presidency". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Simkin, John (January 2020). "Dutch Immigration". spartacus-educational.com. Spartacus Educational Publishers. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Sean. "American Presidents with Irish Ancestors". Bray, Ireland: Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Vinmont, Rolf Benjamin, ed. (1933). Our Presidents At A Glance. New York City: Grosset & Dunlap. p. 77.
  18. ^ "Hayes Family Genealogy". rbhayes.org. Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio: Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Burner, David (1979). Herbert Hoover: The Public Life. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-394-46134-2.
  20. ^ a b Yang, Philip Q. (2000). Ethnic Studies: Issues and Approaches. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. p. 214. ISBN 9780791493113. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  21. ^ Johnson, Niel; Johnson, Verna Gail (1999). "Rooted In History: The Genealogy of Harry S. Truman". trumanlibrary.gov. Independence, Missouri: Harry S. Truman Library. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  22. ^ Barnett, Lincoln (November 9, 1942). "General "Ike" Eisenhower". Life. Vol. 13 no. 19. New York City: Time Inc. pp. 112–124. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  23. ^ "Eisenhower Ancestry". eisenhowerlibrary.gov. Abilene, Kansas: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  24. ^ "John F. Kennedy and Ireland". jfklibrary.org. Boston: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  25. ^ Wheeler, Keith; Lambert, William (August 14, 1964). "The Man Who Is President". Life. Vol. 57 no. 7. New York City: Time Inc. pp. 25–29, 77–80. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  26. ^ Klein, Christopher (August 30, 2018). "10 Things You May Not Know About Richard Nixon". history.com. New York City: A&E Television Networks. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  27. ^ "Gerald R. Ford Genealogical Information". fordlibrarymuseum.gov. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  28. ^ Gormley, Myra V. (February 17, 1986). "Digging Up a Potential Presidential Pedigree: 5 Chief Executives Identified as Most Likely Candidates". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  29. ^ Golway, Terry (2008). Ronald Reagan's America: His Voice, His Dreams, and His Vision of Tomorrow. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks MediaFusion. p. 1. ISBN 978-1402212581.
  30. ^ a b Dowd, Maureen (July 18, 1989). "Dutch, Digging Deep, Find Bush's Pilgrim Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  31. ^ Plante, Bill (July 30, 2012). "Surprising link found in Obama's family tree". cbsnews.com. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  32. ^ Kenneally, Christine (2014). The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures. Melbourne, Victoria: Schwartz. p. 47. ISBN 9780670025558.
  33. ^ Schubert, Atika (February 16, 2016). "Donald Trump's German roots: Inside the town that spawned a dynasty". cnn.com. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  34. ^ Witcover, Jules (2010). Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption. New York City: William Morrow. p. 8. ISBN 978-0061791987.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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