For presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, it’s all in the family.
Lynn Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, said Tuesday she discovered Obama and her husband share a common ancestor. She made the discovery while researching her book “Blue Skies, No Fences.”
Speaking about her book during an afternoon interview on MSNBC, Lynn Cheney said the familial relationship isn’t enough for her to support Obama’s candidacy.
News reports of the Illinois senator’s important family connections have been appearing for months, though.
The Hawaii-based Family Forest, a genealogical research company, announced last February that Obama shares a common ancestor with President George Washington, Gen. George S. Patton, Gov. Adlai Stevenson, President Jimmy Carter and Quincy Jones Jr.
The ancestor is Laurence Washington, an English wool merchant in the 1600s and Obama’s 12th-great-grandfather on his mother’s side.
According to the same genealogical database, President George W. Bush is also related to President George Washington. The current president is Washington’s 11th cousin, eight times removed, the database reported.
The Obama campaign is not commenting on the senator’s multiple family connections, according to a spokesman.
