Bush and Clinton: American’s Current Royal Families?

Remember the American Revolution? It was in 1776, when the British Colonies declared their “independence” from Great Britain. Funny thing is, almost 240 years later, the USA is still very much tied to the UK. After we stopped fighting against them, we started fighting with them (some might say for them). Ever since then, it has been acceptable to be an anglophile (a person who admires England, her culture, and her people).

If you have any doubts, do you remember the big fuss the American media recently made over the births of Princess Charlotte and Prince George? The very fact that you (probably) recognized these two as the children of Prince William and Kate Middleton is testament to how closely England the USA watch each other, and take cues from one another in the culture department.

Still doubtful? How about one more name: The Beatles. The UK and the USA also have their differences, to be sure. But you only need to scratch the surface to see that we are cut from the same cloth.

We made a big show of setting up a democracy when the country was formed. No more kings, and so forth and so on. Our first president, George Washington, came from a wealthy family to be sure, but the Washingtons were only moderately prosperous, and would be considered of “middling rank.” Hardly royalty.

Then came the Adams Family. The Adams family produced two presidents of the United States. Our sixth president, John Quincy Adams, was the son of our second president, John Adams. This was the start of political “connections” in the USA, as I see it. Did you know that Diana, Princess of Wales, and her two sons, Prince William (The Duke of Cambridge) and Prince Harry, are distant relatives of John Adams?

The Adams family is one of four families to have two Presidents of the United States in their ranks. The others are the Harrison family (William Henry and Benjamin), the Roosevelt family (cousins, not father and son), and the Bush family (George and George W.). Now with Hillary running for election, we could have the first husband and wife to become president. There is also the distant possibility of Jeb Bush becoming president, making his the third presidency in the Bush family.

Did you know that Barack H. Obama, our 44th President is George Washington’s great uncle's 11th great nephew! Okay, so that is a stretch. But the fact is, when you study the genealogy of our presidents, you will find many, many more such amazing connections.

If you want all the details, you can find them here:

When I started this article, I was mainly thinking about how we may have a third Bush in the White House, or a second Clinton. The discovery of the presidential bloodlines came as a complete surprise to me. At least initially. But the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense.

Look at all the families out there that follow the same profession. Whether it’s in music, sports, art, authoring, acting, or you name it: like father, like son (like mother, like daughter) is still true. Or just perhaps, like husband, like wife? We will see. Oh, and for the record, lest you think it’s only about the men, Hillary is distantly related to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. But don’t take my word for it. Go do some research. It’s fascinating stuff.