Irony Trumps Hate
Andrew Jackson is the only president with fewer American-born ancestors than Donald Trump
NOV 23 2016
Original - Abridged
Andrew Jackson is the only president with fewer American-born ancestors than Donald Trump
NOV 23 2016
Original - Abridged
For all of their differences, President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump share a fundamental American bond – they are the children of individuals born outside the United States[1]. Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., hailed from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Kenya and arrived at the University of Hawaii in 1959 at age 23. Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, came to Ellis Island from Stornoway, Scotland in 1929 at the age of 17. Their villages – both remote – are nearly seven thousand miles apart.
I reviewed the family trees of all 44 American presidents[2] to determine the birthplaces of their parents (2), grandparents (4), great-grandparents (8), and great-great-grandparents (16) - a total of 1,320 family members in all[3]. Obama and Trump are two of only eight presidents with at least one foreign-born parent. And they are the first such presidents to hold the office consecutively.
What’s more, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) is the only president with fewer American-born[4] ancestors than Donald Trump[5] – ironic, needless to say, given Trump’s loud history of birtherism and anti-immigrant rhetoric. (If you’re familiar with Trump’s ancestry and spent a moment thinking about it, you might have guessed as much. But there’s something about seeing it on paper.)
I reviewed the family trees of all 44 American presidents[2] to determine the birthplaces of their parents (2), grandparents (4), great-grandparents (8), and great-great-grandparents (16) - a total of 1,320 family members in all[3]. Obama and Trump are two of only eight presidents with at least one foreign-born parent. And they are the first such presidents to hold the office consecutively.
What’s more, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) is the only president with fewer American-born[4] ancestors than Donald Trump[5] – ironic, needless to say, given Trump’s loud history of birtherism and anti-immigrant rhetoric. (If you’re familiar with Trump’s ancestry and spent a moment thinking about it, you might have guessed as much. But there’s something about seeing it on paper.)
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Jackson is the only president with two foreign-born parents and zero American-born ancestors. Old Hickory was born on the Waxhaw Settlement between North and South Carolina in 1767; his parents and two older siblings were born in present-day Northern Ireland and immigrated in 1765.
Trump, Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), and James Buchanan (1857-1861) each have one American-born predecessor in all (Trump’s father, Wilson’s father, and Buchanan’s mother). Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) and Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), meanwhile, each had one American-born parent (both fathers), but their mothers – born in Canada and England, respectively – had other American-born ancestors before them.
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President Obama (2009-2017) and Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) offer a couple of interesting parallels. Their American-born mothers' roots in the U.S. trace back several generations. And their foreign-born fathers' roots lie exclusively overseas (Obama’s in Kenya and Arthur’s in present-day Northern Ireland). Both men were wrongfully “accused” of being foreign-born, which would have (potentially) disqualified them from the presidency or vice presidency[6] under the Constitution's natural-born-citizen clause.
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On the other end of the ancestral spectrum lie George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and William Howard Taft. They all have two American-born parents, four American-born grandparents, eight American-born great-grandparents, and 16 American-born great-great-grandparents. (James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes might too[7].)
Over 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. An estimated 40 percent of Americans can trace their roots to one of them. But for all of that magnitude, Ellis Island had not produced a president. Until Donald Trump.
When Mary Anne MacLeod sailed toward Ellis Island in 1929, she inevitably passed the Statue of Liberty. Tucked inside the Statue's lower pedestal lies a bronze plaque engraved with The New Colossus, a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Their children might grow up to be president. Donald Trump should go take a look.
When Mary Anne MacLeod sailed toward Ellis Island in 1929, she inevitably passed the Statue of Liberty. Tucked inside the Statue's lower pedestal lies a bronze plaque engraved with The New Colossus, a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Their children might grow up to be president. Donald Trump should go take a look.
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Footnotes
[1] "In 2014, 17.5 million children ages 18 and younger lived with at least one immigrant parent" (25% of U.S. children) per the Migration Policy Institute.
[2] With the inauguration of Trump, 44 individuals will have held 45 presidencies. Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president. Obama is #44. Trump is #45.
[3] Finding the birthplace for 1,320 individuals born as far back as the 1600s was no small feat. Ranges and maximums are shown in the table to reflect any instances of uncertainty.
[4] For purposes of this study, "American-born" includes the American colonies.
[5] Trump, Wilson, and Buchanan all have one American-born ancestor. A previous version of this article stated that Donald Trump had fewer American-born ancestors than every president except Andrew Jackson. Trump is "tied" with Wilson and Buchanan, so that statement was technically inaccurate.
[6] Arthur was James Garfield's vice presidential running mate in 1880. He assumed the presidency when Garfield was assassinated in 1881.
[7] Garfield has three unverified great-great-grandparents; Hayes has one.
[1] "In 2014, 17.5 million children ages 18 and younger lived with at least one immigrant parent" (25% of U.S. children) per the Migration Policy Institute.
[2] With the inauguration of Trump, 44 individuals will have held 45 presidencies. Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president. Obama is #44. Trump is #45.
[3] Finding the birthplace for 1,320 individuals born as far back as the 1600s was no small feat. Ranges and maximums are shown in the table to reflect any instances of uncertainty.
[4] For purposes of this study, "American-born" includes the American colonies.
[5] Trump, Wilson, and Buchanan all have one American-born ancestor. A previous version of this article stated that Donald Trump had fewer American-born ancestors than every president except Andrew Jackson. Trump is "tied" with Wilson and Buchanan, so that statement was technically inaccurate.
[6] Arthur was James Garfield's vice presidential running mate in 1880. He assumed the presidency when Garfield was assassinated in 1881.
[7] Garfield has three unverified great-great-grandparents; Hayes has one.
The main sources for this article are WikiTree.com, Geni.com, and FamousKin.com. Any additional sources used to confirm specific individuals will be added. Data was compiled and analyzed by ELDORADO. All charts and graphics herein were created by ELDORADO.
ELDORADO | Berkeley, CA | New York, NY
eldo.co | @eldo_co
ELDORADO | Berkeley, CA | New York, NY
eldo.co | @eldo_co
