# Direct decendants of Presidents or famous Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101 "2003-12-15T12:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E.T.Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@E.T.Bass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.T.Bass)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/1 "2003-12-15T12:33:02Z")
Is there a place to look at the famous decendants of famous Americans, Presidents or otherwise? Christopher Columbus has direct decendants, the 25th decendant was a Spanish naval officer. The family nmae is Colon. G. Washington had no children, so no decendants. T. Jefferson had a lot of decendants, both black and white. Franklin Pierce, a raging alcoholic from New Hampshire is an ancestor of the current President Bush through his mother Barbara (Pierce) Bush. Lincoln only had one son out of four that died of old age (Robert), whose grandson died in 1985 without decendants. The Presidents who had Confederates in their ancestory or history, Clinton, Carter, Truman (mother was a rabid Rebel), Woodrow Wilson (born in Georgia) and Theodore Roosevelt(on his mother’s side). James Buchanan, 15th president (before Lincoln) may or may not have been gay. No decendants. FDR had a son who became a congressman for one or two terms, then faded out from view. I would like to know if Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison had decendants. It is said that many of the presidents were related to each other. I had an old Enclyclopedia Brittanica that states that FDR, Churchill and General Douglas Macarthar were 7th and 8th cousins. All Presidents since FDR has decendants. LBJ’s wife is still alive. My grandmother and LBJ were born the same year and my ganny did not die until 2002. Today, I felt sad because she did not meet my wife (no sad smiley!) ET Bass loves history! Share some with me! ET Bass ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/2 "2003-12-15T13:14:46Z")
Benjamin Franklin was quite the ladies’ man, from what I understand. I believe he did have some children, but I don’t remember what happened to them. I heard a biographer talking about Franklin on NPR. Out of presidents that were related to each other there’s the current one and his dad, and the Roosevelts. Elenor and FDR were first cousins. You probably didn’t bother mentioning them since they’re so obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/3 "2003-12-15T15:38:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dignan \* > \*\*Benjamin Franklin was quite the ladies’ man, from what I understand. I believe he did have some children, but I don’t remember what happened to them. . \*\* As far as I know, he had three children, William Franklin, who was Royal Governor of New Jersey, and fled to England after the war, Francis Franklin, who died at the age of four, and Sarah Bache, who married Richard Bache and had a bunch of kids. I think Franklin had a fourth child, but I’m not sure… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/4 "2003-12-15T15:44:14Z")
Oh, btw…William Franklin founded Rutgers University. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/5 "2003-12-15T16:41:04Z")
The writer Gore Vidal – whose full name is Eugene Luther Gore Vidal and who was partially named after his maternal grandfather, the late U.S. Sen. Thomas Pryor Gore (R-Okla.) – has said that he believes he is related to former U.S. Vice President Albert A. Gore Jr. From what I understand, Al Gore has denied any blood relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Robbbbb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Robbbbb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robbbbb)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/6 "2003-12-15T17:31:52Z")
I’m almost ashamed to know this, but wasn’t one of John Adams’ decendants on the latest season of American Idol? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/7 "2003-12-15T17:38:24Z")
So then I guess I’m somehow related to the current President, since Franklin Pierce is also in my family tree (on my mother’s side.) William McKinley is even closer to me - my mother’s maiden name is McKinley. My maternal grandmother figured this all out. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/8 "2003-12-15T18:00:22Z")
I leafed through a new book on Presidential children a couple of weeks ago at the library. Sorry, but I didn’t notice the name. [http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/presidents\_and\_first\_ladies/44088](http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/presidents_and_first_ladies/44088) This cite is for one in a long list of articles related to Presidential children - I can’t vouch for accuracy. While not directly related to any Presidential children, I do know John Tyler’s grandson and several of his other descendants. They till live at Sherwod Forest. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/9 "2003-12-15T18:04:45Z")
Burke’s (of peerage fame) has a book on presidential families. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/10 "2003-12-15T19:19:50Z")
George Washington doesn’t have direct descendents, but he had nephews, and as his closest relatives they pretty much lay claim to being THE Washingtons. I was going to also chime in that the Lee family is still naming boys “Robert E.” (I was in college at the same time as REL IV, so they’re probably on #6 now) but then I recalled (duh) he was never a president. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/11 "2003-12-15T19:47:21Z")
Montgomery-Masingberd, Hugh, ed. **Burke’s Presidential Families of the United States of America**. 2d rev. ed. London: Burke’s Peerage, 1981. Roberts, Gary Boyd. **Ancestors of American Presidents, First Authoritative Edition**. Santa Clarita, CA: C. Boyers 3d, 1995. Zorn, Walter L. **The Descendants of the Presidents of the United States of America**. 2d rev. ed. Monroe, MI: W. L. Zorn, 1955. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/12 "2003-12-15T19:52:07Z")
No, Lee wasn’t President, but he was married to Martha Custis Washington’s grand daughter, so there is that link. According to the Stratford Hall website, Robert E. Lee IV has no descendants (whether he died without, or simply has never bothered to tell the folks at Stratford about himeself I don’t really know - if anyone would know you’d think it would Stratford). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/13 "2003-12-15T20:19:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*George Washington doesn’t have direct descendents, but he had nephews, and as his closest relatives they pretty much lay claim to being THE Washingtons. > \*\* I (silly me) was wondering if there were any white Washingtons left. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/14 "2003-12-15T20:21:05Z")
There is still a direct line of [Stuarts](http://community.webshots.com/photo/67105001/67107393LiGHVs), too–the J.E.B. Stuarts, that is. And then there was [Kermit Roosevelt](http://www.payk.net/mailingLists/iran-news/html/2000/msg00043.html), grandson of Theodore and orchestrator of the [Iranian coup](http://www.iranchamber.com/history/coup53/coup53p3.php) which installed the Shah as ruler. He did it with the help of [H. Norman Schwarzkopf, senior](http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/lindbergh/crime_2.html?sect=7), who was also a prominent figure in the Lindberg baby kidnapping. ---
**Author:** ![E.T.Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@E.T.Bass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.T.Bass)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/15 "2003-12-16T04:12:44Z")
It’s me the OP, I read on IMDB that the actor Robert Duvall was a direct decendant of Robert E. Lee. Also, why did FDR marry Elenor anyway? And had sex with her. Damn, that was one ugly broad. ET ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/16 "2003-12-16T04:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dignan \* > Out of presidents that were related to each other there’s the current one and his dad, and the Roosevelts. Don’t forget John Adams and John Quincy Adams. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/17 "2003-12-16T04:46:22Z")
Wililam Henry Harrison was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/18 "2003-12-16T04:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*Don’t forget John Adams and John Quincy Adams. \*\* And William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison. I also believe that George Bush is a collateral relation of Franklin Pierce, through his mother. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/19 "2003-12-16T07:40:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Out of presidents that were related to each other there’s the current one and his dad, and the Roosevelts. Elenor and FDR were first cousins. You probably didn’t bother mentioning them since they’re so obvious. I think I speak for everyone when I say “ewwwwww…gross!” Eleanor Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt were first cousins. Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt were fifth cousins; there closest common relative was their great-great-great-great grandfather, Nicholas Roosevelt (1658-1742). ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101/20 "2003-12-16T07:57:02Z")
Eleanor and Franklin didn’t exactly have the happiest, most loving marriage. But Eleanor had to put up with Franklin’s mom living with them and she was supposedly a horrible woman to deal with. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-decendants-of-presidents-or-famous-americans/219101.md?page=2)