# why so few descendants of US presidents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511 "2019-08-11T18:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/21 "2019-08-13T06:50:30Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They’re not the only two-presidents-as-ancestors children. There is another family out there who are descended from two 1800s POTUS’s, and they didn’t know this until they searched their family trees and were in for a VERY big surprise. They knew that there was a president in their genetic woodpile, but not exactly where or who until they did this search. I saw one interviewed on C-SPAN which is how I know this. So who are the 2 presidents? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/22 "2019-08-13T07:42:16Z")
I once read an article on French nobles. (It was on Wikipedia, but I cannot find it now.) The article claimed that peasants were encouraged to marry as young as possible, while nobles were encouraged to find a “suitable” match. “Suitability” generally had more to do with social and economic advantage, than for love. As a result, aristocrats tended to marry much later in life, and to have far fewer children, than commoners. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/23 "2019-08-13T13:40:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I share a great x grandfather with Lincoln. His 3rd great grandfather is my 6th great grandfather. Yeah, Aaron Burr had a daughter, Theodosia. She in turn had a daughter who died young. She was lost at sea before having any more children. Nonetheless, Burr is my 7th great uncle. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/24 "2019-08-13T13:44:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think there are any living ancestors of any current or past President. 😛 Reagan’s children are still alive, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/25 "2019-08-13T13:55:55Z")
Re-read that quote. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/26 "2019-08-13T13:56:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > John Tyler, our 10th president, had 15 children from two wives, the last one when he was in his 70s. That son also had two children when he was in his 70s himself who are still alive. > > [John Tyler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler) > > Correction: His 13th child, Lyon, was born when he was 63. He was the father of the two surviving grandsons. > > [Lyon Gardiner Tyler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Gardiner_Tyler#Personal_life) I came in to mention this piece of presidential trivia. Pretty amazing, considering that Tyler was born in 1790. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/27 "2019-08-13T15:16:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And Thomas Jefferson wasn’t mentioned, but it’s now almoDNAst certain that he has descendants via at least one of his slaves. DNA testing has confirmed he has a whole lot of descendants by his slave Sally…don’t remember her last name. And his white descendants have include them in the family group. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/28 "2019-08-13T15:17:37Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Reagan’s children are still alive, as far as I know. Nope–his daughter Maureen died years ago from skin cancer. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/29 "2019-08-13T15:24:16Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Reagan’s children are still alive, as far as I know. But his parents are dead. John Reagan died in 1941 and Nelle Wilson Reagan died in 1962. I think it’s safe to assume his grandparents and other ancestors are dead as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/30 "2019-08-13T15:26:07Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I once read an article on French nobles. (It was on Wikipedia, but I cannot find it now.) The article claimed that peasants were encouraged to marry as young as possible, while nobles were encouraged to find a “suitable” match. “Suitability” generally had more to do with social and economic advantage, than for love. As a result, aristocrats tended to marry much later in life, and to have far fewer children, than commoners. This may have been the case in some cultures at some times, but it’s the opposite of the usual pattern in early modern and pre-modern Europe. More commonly, [people who had to earn a living married fairly late](https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/family/marriage.html), while nobles and royalty could be married [very young indeed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Valois) (although they weren’t necessarily expected to consummate the marriage immediately, and in some cases [might not even meet face to face](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur,_Prince_of_Wales#Marriage) until well after the marrriage ceremony). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/31 "2019-08-13T16:13:27Z")
I think the last presidential ancestor to die was George H. W. Bush, in November of last year. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/32 "2019-08-13T16:16:24Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Reagan’s children are still alive, as far as I know. Barbara Bush just recently passed away. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/33 "2019-08-13T16:49:56Z")
The group’s that historically have had big families haven’t really been represented in office. There wasn’t a lot of 10 kid Catholic guys running for office back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/34 "2019-08-13T17:57:39Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#): > > DNA testing has confirmed he has a whole lot of descendants by his slave Sally…don’t remember her last name. [Hemings](https://www.biography.com/historical-figure/sally-hemings), I believe. Only four of her children are believed to have survived to adulthood, and a couple of them passed as white, at least for a while. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/35 "2019-08-13T20:38:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think there are any living ancestors of any current or past President. 😛 It wasn’t _that_ long ago that a former US president still had both his parents still living. 2018, actually, just last year ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/36 "2019-08-13T20:51:22Z")
That raises another interesting question: how many people _have_ had the distinction of being living ancestors of (current or former) US presidents? Off the top of my head, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and Bill Clinton all had a living parent for part of their presidency, and JFK had two living parents for all of his (and, in Rose’s case, for more than thirty years afterward), and so, of course, did Bush-43. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/37 "2019-08-13T20:55:53Z")
Roosevelt has quite a few descendants. FDR and Eleanor had 22 grandchildren. > **[The new Roosevelts of Hyde Park](https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/28/new-roosevelts-hyde-park/84049462/)** > > A grandson of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt lives in Hyde Park. > [@](#): > > A new generation of Roosevelts. > > Texas-born David Roosevelt’s family of four not only has come back to Hyde Park, but is living on the grounds made historic by his grandparents, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/38 "2019-08-13T20:58:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Re-read that quote. Obama’s grandmother died just before he was elected, IIRC. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/39 "2019-08-13T21:16:36Z")
If John McCain had won in 2012, we’d have a living presidential ancestor. His mother, Roberta Wright McCain, is still alive at 107. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/40 "2019-08-13T21:29:27Z")
Obama’s parents died quite young; his mother was born in 1942 and died in 1995, age 52. She would be 76 if she were alive today and Barack Obama Sr., who died when he was 46, would be 83. His grandmother died age 86, in November 2008, 2 days before he was elected. So with Obama we just missed having a living president’s grandmother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511.md?page=3)