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 icon Madonna and Beat generation writer Jack Kerouac.
"You'd think with all that singing talent in the family she'd be able to carry a tune," Clinton's senior adviser 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 Bard 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 celebrities with French Canadian ancestry, 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 genealogist 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 Ford, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, and to Civil War General Robert Lee.
美國研究人員日前稱，美國總統競選人巴拉克•歐巴馬不僅是現任總統喬治•W•布希的遠親，而且與「二戰」時期的英國首相溫斯頓•邱吉爾還沾親帶故。
新英格蘭歷史宗譜學會對美國三大總統競選人的家譜進行研究後發現，民主黨總統競選人希拉蕊•柯林頓與流行天后麥當娜和「垮掉的一代」代表作家傑克•克魯亞克都是親戚。
希拉蕊的高級顧問菲利普•萊內斯說：「你也許會想，有了家族遺傳的唱歌天分，希拉蕊唱歌應該不會走調才是。不過現在看來，她得葛萊美獎是情理之中的事。」
1997年，希拉蕊憑藉作品《一村之力》獲格萊美「最佳專輯朗誦獎」。
據稱，歐巴馬和好萊塢「萬人迷」布拉德•皮特是第九代表親，他們的共同祖先於1769年去世;希拉蕊•柯林頓則是皮特女友安吉利娜•茱麗的第九代表親，她們的共同祖先於1718年去世。
此外，柯林頓與歌手席琳•迪翁和艾拉妮絲·莫莉塞特等很多法裔加拿大名人都有親戚關係。
開展該研究的系譜專家克裡斯託夫•洽德說：「具有法裔加拿大血統的人與其他很多法裔加拿大人有親戚關係，這很正常。」
有關共和黨總統競選人約翰•麥凱恩的研究結果可能沒那麼令人驚訝。研究發現，他是第一夫人蘿拉•布希的第六代表親。
該學會還發現，歐巴馬與美國前任總統傑拉德•福特、林頓•約翰森和哈裡•特魯曼，以及南北戰爭時期的羅伯特•李將軍都是親戚。