US candidates linked to Hollywood stars

Last Modified: 26 Mar 2008
Source: ITN

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton may have star qualities they didn't even know about.

A geneological study of the pair has revealed that Clinton is linked to Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, while her partner Brad Pitt apparently has family connections with Obama.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) have traced the family trees of all three presidential candidates to find out if they had famous relatives, either dead alive.

It found that on his mother's side, Obama can claim at least six US presidents as distant cousins, including George W. Bush and his father.

British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill also features in the line up of distant family members, while Brad Pitt is a ninth cousin.

"Obama's maternal ancestry includes the mid-Atlantic States and the South," said Christopher Child, a genealogist with NEHGS.

Meanwhile, Democratic rival Clinton, shares a common ancestor from Quebec with Jolie, making the pair ninth cousins twice removed.

Child said Clinton is also a cousin of a number of famous people with French Canadian ancestry, including Madonna, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, as well as Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles.

Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, is a sixth cousin of Laura Bush but it proved difficult to track his other ancestors.

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