All current and former living US presidents have had at least one ancestor who used to own slaves except one, an investigation by news agency Reuters found. The genealogies of “America’s political elite” data showed that US president Joe Biden and all of his predecessors have descended from ancestors who enslaved Black people.
Even Barack Obama — US' first Black president — is the descendant of a slaveowner from his mother's side of the family, it found. The only exception to this is former US president Donald Trump.
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The slaveholding ancestors of living US presidents are:
- George Bush — One director ancestor, six generations removed, owned 25 slaves
- Bill Clinton — One director ancestor, five generations removed, owned one slaves
- Jimmy Carter — One director ancestor, four generations removed, owned 54 slaves
- Barack Obama — One director ancestor, six generations removed, owned two slaves
- Joe Biden — One direct ancestor, five generations removed, owned one slave
The investigation also revealed that two Supreme Court justices, 11 governors, and 100 members of Congress are direct descendants of slaveholders. Sitting members of Congress who are linked to slave owners include at least 28 per cent of Republicans and 8 per cent of Democrats- including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth.
{{/usCountry}}The investigation also revealed that two Supreme Court justices, 11 governors, and 100 members of Congress are direct descendants of slaveholders. Sitting members of Congress who are linked to slave owners include at least 28 per cent of Republicans and 8 per cent of Democrats- including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth.
{{/usCountry}}“The preponderance of Republicans reflects the party’s strength in the South, where slavery was concentrated. Although white people enslaved Black people in northern states in early America, by the eve of the Civil War, slavery was almost entirely a southern enterprise,” the Reuters report claimed.
Donald Trump's ancestors immigrated to the United States only after slavery was abolished in 1865, Reuters reported. The data was collated through pieces of information contained in thousands of pages of documents to trace the lineages of the political elite.