You’ve probably seen the viral headlines. Some 12-year-old girl does a school project and discovers that almost every single American president is a direct descendant of King John of England. It sounds like a plot point from National Treasure. Honestly, when you first hear it, you start wondering if the Oval Office is basically a private family club with a velvet rope.
But is it true? Kinda.
If you look at the genealogy, the math actually checks out. BridgeAnne d’Avignon, the student who made waves back in 2012, spent months tracing the lineages of 42 out of 43 presidents (at the time) back to the same 13th-century monarch. The only outlier? Martin Van Buren. He was 100% Dutch.
But here’s the thing: while the data is technically correct, the "secret society" vibes are a bit of an exaggeration. Most of us are more royal than we think.
The King John Connection Explained
King John—the guy who signed the Magna Carta and serves as the villain in every Robin Hood movie—is the "bridge" ancestor here. Because he lived 800 years ago, his family tree has had a massive amount of time to fan out.
Think about how ancestry works. You have two parents. They had two parents. By the time you go back 20 generations, you have over a million slots for ancestors. Go back to the 1200s, and that number is mathematically larger than the entire population of the world at the time. This means those lines have to cross.
Basically, if you have any British or Western European heritage, there’s a massive statistical chance you’re also related to King John. And by extension, you're probably a distant cousin to Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Queen Elizabeth II.
It’s not so much that the presidents are part of a secret dynasty; it’s that most people of European descent are part of one giant, messy family tree.
Why Martin Van Buren Was the Odd Man Out
Van Buren is always the trivia answer for "which president isn't like the others." His family was Dutch through and through. They spoke Dutch at home in New York. He’s actually the only president who learned English as a second language.
Because his roots didn't trace back to the British Isles like the "Old Stock" Americans (the Washingtons, Jeffersons, and Adamses), he didn't hit that King John "jackpot" in the records.
However, even Van Buren isn't totally isolated. Some genealogists argue that if you look hard enough at his mother’s side or go back to common European ancestors like Charlemagne, even he gets pulled back into the fold.
The Reality of "Presidential Blood"
Let's be real for a second. Being a 19th cousin twice removed doesn't exactly get you a seat at the Thanksgiving table.
Geneticists often point out that after about seven or eight generations, you might not even share any actual DNA with a specific ancestor. You have the "pedigree," but the physical genes have been washed out by centuries of other people joining the family.
So, while are all of the US presidents related is a fun "did you know" fact, it’s mostly a result of two things:
- Record Keeping: Royalty kept meticulous records. Peasants did not. If you can trace your family back far enough, you're eventually going to hit a royal because they're the only ones whose names were written down in 1215.
- Small Founding Populations: Most early US presidents came from a very small pool of English settlers who moved to Virginia and Massachusetts in the 1600s. These families intermarried for 150 years before the Revolution even started.
Cousins in the White House
The connections aren't always hundreds of years old, though. Some are much closer.
- The Adamses: John Adams and John Quincy Adams (Father/Son).
- The Harrisons: William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison (Grandfather/Grandson).
- The Roosevelts: Teddy and FDR were fifth cousins.
- The Bushes: George H.W. and George W. (Father/Son).
Beyond the obvious ones, James Madison and Zachary Taylor were second cousins. FDR was actually related by blood or marriage to 11 other presidents. If you think your family reunions are awkward, imagine being a Roosevelt.
What This Means for You
If you’re wondering if you’re "presidential," you probably are.
It’s estimated that roughly 100 million Americans are related to at least one US president. If your family has been in the United States since the 1700s, the odds are almost 100%.
The fascinating part isn't that the presidents are related; it's that we all are. Genealogy is less like a tree and more like a massive, tangled web.
The next time you see a "shocking" report about presidential bloodlines, remember: it’s not a conspiracy. It’s just math.
How to trace your own presidential connection
If you want to see if you're part of this "royal" club, you don't need a professional genealogist anymore.
Start with your immigrants. Find the first person in your line who moved to America. If they arrived before 1800, your chances of a presidential link skyrocket.
Use "Famous Kin" databases. Sites like FamousKin.com or the American Ancestors database (run by the New England Historic Genealogical Society) allow you to search for common ancestors between your surname and known presidential lineages.
Look for the "Gatekeepers." In genealogy, there are certain individuals known as "gateway ancestors." These are colonial settlers who have already been proven to descend from British royalty. If you can link your tree to one of them, the rest of the work—including your connection to King John and the presidents—has already been done for you by historians.