Which US President are you most closely connected to?

+39 votes
6.9k views

This week's Example Profile of the Week is the first president of the USA, George Washington.

Featured alongside him are other US Presidents:

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 20,803,000 of us who are connected to each other on our big tree you can check with the Connection Finder.

You can also check for shared ancestors with the Relationship Finder. Are you a cousin to any of them? Your Relationship Finder Quick Links page (see your profile pull-down menu under "Relationships") has quick links for US presidents.

Let us know below!

P.S. Help us choose and improve profiles for next week's feature: Military Heroes.

WikiTree profile: George Washington
in The Tree House by Abby Glann G2G6 Pilot (730k points)
edited by Chris Whitten
I’m an Australian related to George Washington (7th cousin, 13 times removed), also Ulysses Grant, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and George W. Bush (13th cousin). I’m also a 4th cousin to Tony Blair former British PM.
George Washington 10th cousin 8 times removed

Abraham Lincoln 7th cousin 5 times removed

John Calvin Coolidge 8th cousin 2x removed

George Bush Sr 7th cousin 3x removed

John Quincy Adams 7th cousin 6x removed

Chester Arthur 6th cousin 3x removed

Grover Cleveland 6th cousin 4x removed

Millard Fillmore 6th cousin 5x removed

James Garland 8th cousin 3x removed

W Harding 9th cousin 3x removed

Benjamin Harris 9th cousin 4x removed

Rutherford Hayes 4th cousin 4x removed

H Hoover 9 cousin 1x removed

G Ford 9th cousin 1x removed

R Nixon 9th cousin 2x removed

F Pierce 5th cousin 5x removed

F Roosevelt 8th cousin 2x removed

William Taft 8th cousin 5x removed
Martin Van Buren. 1st cousins 7 times removed.
We share the same lines:)
We share the same lines:) I’m related to 40 Presidents with George Washington being my closest at 1st cousin 8x.

16 Degrees from Thomas Jefferson - 8th cousins 9 times removed via John Chapman.

17 Degrees from John Q Adams - 13th cousins 7 times removed via Mathew ap Ieuan.

17 Degrees from Ulysses S Grant - 10th cousins 6 times removed via Robert Algore.

15 Degrees from James Madison - 11th cousins 11 times removed via Walter Devereux.

19 Degrees from Rutherford B Hayes - 14th cousins 6 times removed via Margaret Cornu.

18 Degrees from James A Garfield - 11th cousins 5 times removed via Robert Algore.

19 Degrees from Grover Cleveland - 11 cousins 5 times removed via Robert Algore.

20 Degrees from Theodore Roosevelt - 17th cousins 6 times removed via John Wroth.

18 Degrees from Woodrow Wilson - 16th cousins 8 times removed via Richard (FitzAlan) de Arundel.

19 Degrees from Calvin Coolidge - 11th cousins 4 times removed via Henry Archer

20 Degrees from Herbert Hoover - 10th cousins 3 times removed via Unknown Mousall.

19 Degrees from Franklin D Roosevelt - 11th cousins 6 times removed via William Sandys.

17 Degrees from Richard Nixon - 7th cousins 4 times removed via Mordecai Price.

20 Degrees from Gerald Ford - 9th cousins 1 time removed via William Gifford.

18 Degrees from George H W Bush - 10th cousins via George Parker Sr.

George Washington is also my 1st cousin 8x. The trail is on my profile. So I guess we are related as well!
32 of them are my cousins and the rest are connections. James Madison is the closest because he is my 2nd cousin 7x removed, followed by Zachary Taylor and the Roosevelts. My ancestors were in Virginia in 1610, so it is no surprise that I would be related to the early presidents.
President James Madison is my 4th cousin 6 x removed. Related via his mother Eleanor Rose Conway' great grandmother Martha Eltonhead and her father Richard Eltonhead c1582, my 9th Great Grandfather. Alice Elizabeth Eltonhead and Henry Corbin being my 8th GGGrandparents. General Robert E Lee and Sir Robert Walpole (British Prime Minister) are my first cousins. Edmund Jennings and Frances Corbin my 7th GGparents. Settlers in Virginia in 1680. Other relatives include Barkham, Berney, Parker, Gawdy,  Richers, Wentworth, & Faunt. Most families here had links plantations and land in early British Colonial America.

90 Answers

+23 votes

I am most closely connected to Dwight Eisenhower at 13 degrees.

by Tommy Buch G2G Astronaut (1.9m points)
edited by Tommy Buch
+22 votes
Harry Truman 5th cousins 3 times removed. Ulysses S Grant. My 5th cousin 5 times removed. Theodore Roosevelt my 6th cousin 4 times removed. Those are my closest
by Wendy Beecher G2G3 (3.3k points)
edited by Wendy Beecher
+22 votes
I am most closely connected to George Washington at 20 degrees.
by Samantha Thomson G2G6 Pilot (257k points)
+23 votes

5th cousin 5x removed from William Howard Taft

6th cousin 3x removed from Calvin Coolidge

7th cousin 6x removed from William Henry Harrison

8th cousin 1x removed from George Walker Bush (relationship on mother's side)

8th cousin 7x removed from George Washington

9th cousin 2x removed from Richard Milhous Nixon

9th cousin 4x removed from Benjamin Harrison

Barack Obama (3rd cousin 5x removed of wife of 7th cousin 3x removed)

18 degrees from George Washington

13 degrees from John Adams (nephew of wife of brother-in-law of 1st cousin 9x removed)

18 degrees from Abraham Lincoln (husband of 3rd great-niece of husband of sister-in-law of 1st cousin 8x removed/step 3rd great-grandson of wife of brother-in-law of 9th great-uncle)

17 degrees from Calvin Coolidge

18 degrees from Harry Truman

17 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower (paternal grandfather of husband of 10th cousin 1x removed)

19 degrees from John Kennedy

19 degrees from Ronald Reagan (John Hinckley, Jr. is 9th great-nephew of wife of 10th great-uncle)

18 degrees from George Bush (husband of 7th cousin 2x removed)

by Scott Hutchins G2G6 Mach 2 (24.9k points)
edited by Scott Hutchins
  • President John Adams, 5th cousin 6x removed
  • President John Quincy Adams, 6th cousin 5x removed
  • President Millard Fillmore, 5th cousin 6x removed
  • President Franklin Pierce, 5th cousin 6x removed
  • President Abraham Lincoln, 9th cousin 5x removed
  • Ulysses S. Grant, 6th cousin 5x removed
  • Rutherford B. Hays, 7th cousin 3x removed
  • James A. Garfield, 5th cousin 5x removed
  • Grover Cleveland, 5th cousin 4x removed
  • Theodore Roosevelt, 10th cousin 4x removed
  • Woodrow Wilson, 11 cousin 3x removed
  • Warren G. Harding, 7th cousin 3x removed
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 7th cousin 3x removed
  • Richard Nixon, 9th cousin 1x removed
  • Gerald Ford, 9th cousin 1x removed
  • George H.W Bush, 9th cousin

The others all drew blanks on Relationship Finder, unless stated above.

+23 votes

I'm remotely related to most of them. Also to Samuel Tilden, who almost was elected president. He won the popular vote in 1876, but lost by one electoral vote. He is buried in the same cemetery as my great-grandparents, but in a much bigger and fancier tomb. Here's a picture of it, along with more information about that election.

by Joyce Vander Bogart G2G6 Pilot (199k points)
+21 votes
12 degrees from Abraham Lincoln
16 degrees from George Bush, 7th cousins once removed, MRCA Mary (Steele) Rankin (Steele-451) b. 1688
17 degrees from George Washington, 12th cousins 7x removed, MRCA Hugh Shirley (Shirley-182) b. 1362
17 degrees from John Adams
19 degrees from Calvin Coolidge, 8th cousins 3x removed, MRCA John Lawrence (Lawrence-293) b. 1610
19 degrees from Harry Truman, 14th cousins 2x removed, MRCA Robert Whitney (Whitney-471) b. 1440
19 degrees from John Kennedy
20 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower
21 degrees from Ronald Reagan
by Mike Wells G2G6 Pilot (135k points)
You and I are related, I have the Steele Rankin line and Ball line.
+24 votes

 John Calvin Coolidge Jr and I are 4th cousins once removed (10 Degrees) through my Mother's line. I am related to 37 - 38 US Presidents total.

by Ken Parman G2G6 Pilot (119k points)
+21 votes
I am most closely connected  to George Washington  at 14 degrees.
by Anonymous Roach G2G6 Pilot (198k points)
+30 votes
1st Cousin to Abraham Lincoln.   I had NOOO idea of this until I had my DNA analyzed and started using Wikitree and doing Genealogy Research.  

Direct Descendant of his Uncle (Maternal Side) so makes me 1st cousin, 5 times removed.
by Douglas Grimm G2G3 (3.3k points)

Awesome ... compared both of our GEDmatchs with min seg lowered to 3... 

We are 6th cousins 2x removed...

Largest segment = 8.4 cM
Total Half-Match segments (HIR) 58cM (1.617 Pct)
14 shared segments found for this comparison.
473291 SNPs used for this comparison.
69.764 Pct SNPs are full identical

+20 votes

12 degrees from Abraham Lincoln (using the connection finder, anyway; in terms of "met X who met Y who met Z" it's 4 degrees; me > my paternal grandfather > his great-uncle Levin > his uncle by marriage Mathew Brady > Abraham Lincoln).

My connection to Lincoln is through his uncle Mordecai's wife Mary Mudd (my 2nd cousin 7x removed), who was also a 1st cousin twice removed of Dr. Samuel Mudd (who was accused of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination).

Next closest: Washington at 14 degrees, Adams at 15, and Truman at 16 (Truman is also my 6th cousin 3x removed; common ancestors are Robert Tyler and Susannah Duvall of Prince George's County, Maryland).

by C Handy G2G6 Pilot (209k points)
Nice sub 14 degrees! :-)
+23 votes
Dwight Eisenhower, 10 degrees.
by Bill Feidt G2G6 Mach 4 (49.5k points)
Me, too................10 degrees.  My 4th cousin, once removed.
Hi 6th cousin.
Hi Cousin................nice to meet you!!!
+21 votes
13 degrees from George Washington. 10th cousin 7 times removed. MRCA Willliam Bonville (abt 1392-1461). Some uncertainty on my end.

17 degrees from John Adams. 4th cousin 9 times removed. MRCA Benjamin Basse (1563-1616). I'm not too sure about the research done on this line, but that's what wikitree has.

14 degrees from Abraham Lincoln

20 degrees from Calvin Coolidge. 10th cousin 3 time removed. Same MRCA as with Adams.

16 degrees from Harry Truman. 8th cousin once removed. MRCA John Pigg (1615-abt. 1685).

17 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower.

17 degrees from John F. Kennedy.

18 degrees from Ronald Reagan.

18 degrees from George H. W. Bush. 8th cousin once removed. MRCA Jane (Drury) Stith (1624-aft.1694)
by Frank Blankenship G2G6 Pilot (128k points)
edited by Frank Blankenship
Returning to the question: Which US President are you most closely connected to? I'd have to say, in all probability, James Madison. Judge Edmund Pendleton is a great, great, etc., uncle of mine (on both sides of my family [it happens]), and he was a cousin of James Madison (i.e. I must be, too.). I won't go into the details because there are probable misattributions in the Wikitree pedigree, suffice it to say, the relationship finder makes us out to be cousins as well. Zachary Taylor (3rd cousin 6Xs removed), too, as the three of us share the same Taylor ancestor.
+21 votes

I am 22 degrees from George Washington20 degrees from John Adams23 degrees from Abraham Lincoln23 degrees from Calvin Coolidge24 degrees from Harry Truman23 degrees from John Kennedy25 degrees from Ronald Reagan21 degrees from George Bush.

It says I am 23 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower but the connection goes through a profile that is a brother to someone who lived in the 1700's but has a Wife born in the 1940's. Therefore I don't know my true connection to Dwight Eisenhower.

by Darren Kellett G2G6 Pilot (427k points)
Amazingly close connections between New Zealand and the U.S. presidents!
+21 votes

15 degrees Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) ninth cousin five times removed.

17 degrees George Washington (1732 - 1799) 8th cousin seven times removed.

17 degrees John Adams (1735 - 1826) no blood relationship.

17 degrees John Calvin Coolidge Jr. (1872 - 1933) 7th cousin three times removed. 

18 degrees Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)  16th cousins twice removed (uncertain)

18 degrees John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963) no blood relationship.

18 degrees George Herbert Walker Bush (1924 - 2018) 9th cousin twice removed.

19 degrees Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 - 1969) no blood relationship.

21 degrees Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 - 2004) no blood relationship.

by Jennifer Robins G2G6 Pilot (252k points)
+20 votes
I'm related to all of these presidents, but I'm most closely related to George Washington at 13 degrees and John Adams at 14 degrees.  I haven't checked the other presidents yet.
by Robin Shaules G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
+21 votes
  • 11 degrees from George Washington
  • 13 degrees from Abraham Lincoln
  • 14 degrees from Dwight Eisenhower
  • 16 degrees from John Adams
  • 17 degrees from Calvin Coolidge
  • 17 degrees from Harry Truman
  • 17 degrees from George Bush
  • 18 degrees from John Kennedy
  • 20 degrees from Ronald Reagan
by Eric Weddington G2G6 Pilot (517k points)
+20 votes

The only President I'm not related to is D Trump.

If J Biden gets elected, I'm 16 from him.

In alphabetical order:


11 from J Adams

12 from JC Adams

16 from C Arthur

16 from W Jefferson (B Clinton)

15 from J Buchanan

15 from GH Bush

15 from GW Bush

18 from J Carter

15 from S Cleveland

14 from J Coolidge

18 from D Eisenhower

14 from M Fillmore

15 from G Ford

14 from J Garfield

14 from H Grant

16 from W Harding

11 from B Harrison

9 from W Harrison

15 from R Hayes

16 from H Hoover

7 from A Jackson

12 from T Jefferson

13 from A Johnson

16 from L Johnson

19 from J Kennedy

16 from A Lincoln

12 from J Madison

13 from W McKinley

15 from J Monroe

15 from R Nixon

12 from B Obama

12 from F Pierce

15 from J Polk

18 from R Reagan

15 from F Roosevelt

16 from T Roosevelt

14 from W Taft

8 from Z Taylor

15 from H Truman

14 from J Tyler

19 from Van Buren

11 from G Washington

16 from T Wilson

by Stuart Mullage G2G Crew (860 points)
+19 votes
15 degrees from George Washington, he's also 4th cousin 7 xR and same degrees Abe Lincoln, no blood relationship.  Also cousins to quite a few other Presidents.
by Loretta Morrison G2G6 Pilot (177k points)
+19 votes
17 degrees for Lincoln, Coolidge and Bush.  18 degrees for Eisenhower and Reagan.
by Caryl Ruckert G2G6 Pilot (205k points)
+20 votes
Truman  14 degrees  or 6th  cousins  once  removed   via  maternal  side.
by Hart Wallace G2G6 Mach 3 (31.5k points)

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