You’ve probably seen the headline floating around Facebook or TikTok. It usually goes something like this: "Middle schooler discovers all U.S. presidents are related to the same medieval king!"
It sounds like a conspiracy theory. Or maybe a Dan Brown plot. Honestly, when I first heard it, I figured it was just one of those internet myths that refuses to die, like the one about humans only using 10% of their brains. But here’s the kicker—it’s actually, mostly, true.
Back in 2009, a 12-year-old girl named BridgeAnne d’Avignon spent months digging through over 500,000 genealogical records. She wasn't just looking for her own roots. She wanted to see if the leaders of the free world shared a common thread. What she found was that 42 out of 43 presidents (at the time) were direct descendants of King John of England.
Yeah, that King John. The one from the Robin Hood stories who signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
So, are all of the presidents related or is it just a fluke?
If you're looking for a simple "yes," you’ve got it. But the "why" is where things get interesting. Most people think this implies some sort of secret royal bloodline running the White House. But if you talk to a professional genealogist, they’ll give you a bit of a reality check.
Basically, it comes down to math. Specifically, something called pedigree collapse.
Think about it this way. You have two parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. If you go back to the year 1200, you technically have millions of ancestors. But there weren't millions of people on Earth back then. This means that eventually, your family tree starts to overlap with everyone else's.
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The King John Connection
BridgeAnne’s research was impressive because she did the legwork that most historians hadn't bothered with. She identified a "gateway ancestor"—someone who came to the American colonies with a provable royal lineage.
For the vast majority of U.S. presidents, that link leads back to the Plantagenet dynasty. King John was a busy guy with a lot of descendants. Because the early American colonists were largely of British descent, and because the "elite" of that time tended to marry other "elites," the royal DNA got spread around the early presidency like wildfire.
- George Washington? Related to King John.
- Thomas Jefferson? Also related.
- Barack Obama? Yep, he’s King John’s great-great-great (add about 20 more greats) grandson through his mother’s side.
The one president who broke the streak
There is always an outlier. In this case, it’s Martin Van Buren.
Van Buren was our eighth president, but he was the first one born as a U.S. citizen rather than a British subject. He grew up in a Dutch-speaking community in New York. Because his ancestry was almost exclusively Dutch, he didn't share that same British royal line that the others did.
So, while the "all presidents are related" claim is a great headline, the fine print is "all presidents except the Dutch guy."
Why does everyone seem to be cousins?
If you dig deep enough, you’ll find that the "presidential club" is really just a giant family reunion. The New England Historic Genealogical Society has spent decades proving these links.
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It’s not just the old-school guys either.
- George W. Bush and Barack Obama are 10th cousins, once removed. They share an ancestor named Samuel Hinkley who lived in the 1600s.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt were fifth cousins.
- James Madison and Zachary Taylor were second cousins.
Honestly, it’s kinda wild when you realize that Obama is also distant cousins with Brad Pitt, and Hillary Clinton is related to Angelina Jolie. When you have deep roots in the early American colonies, you’re basically related to everyone who’s ever had a Wikipedia page.
Is it a "Shadow Government" thing?
This is where the internet gets weird. Some folks claim that this prove the presidency is "selected, not elected."
But let’s be real. If you have British or Western European ancestry, there is a statistically high chance that you are also related to King John. Most people just haven't spent 500 hours looking at birth certificates from the 14th century to prove it.
Geneticists suggest that nearly everyone with English roots is a descendant of Edward III or King John. The presidents aren't special because they have royal blood; they’re just the ones whose family trees are famous enough to be scrutinized.
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I checked in with some data from FamilySearch and WikiTree. They point out that while these connections are genealogically sound, they are genetically paper-thin.
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By the time you get to a 10th or 20th cousin, you likely share zero actual DNA with that person. You share a name on a chart, but your biological makeup is as different as two random people on the street.
So, does being a 15th cousin of George Washington help you win an election? Probably not. But it does make for a killer "fun fact" at a dinner party.
What this means for you
If you’ve ever wondered about your own connection to history, the "presidential" link is actually a doorway into your own genealogy. Most of us are walking around with royal or presidential "cousins" and we have no idea.
Here is how you can find out if you're part of the club:
- Start with the "Gateway Ancestors": Look for names in your tree that immigrated from England or Scotland before 1700. These are the most likely links to royal lines.
- Use Collaborative Trees: Sites like WikiTree or Geni have "relationship finders" that can automatically trace your path to a president if your tree is connected to the global "big tree."
- Don't get hung up on the "King" part: Focus on the "pedigree collapse." The more you research, the more you realize that the human family is way smaller than we think.
The reality of are all of the presidents related isn't about a secret cabal. It’s a fascinating look at how a small group of early settlers shaped the leadership of a nation. It’s about the fact that history isn't just something we read in books—it's literally written in the family trees of the people we elect.
Next Step: You should head over to a free site like FamilySearch and use their "Relative Finder" tool. It’s a quick way to see if you’re actually an 11th cousin to Abraham Lincoln or if you’re more of a Van Buren-style outlier.