oops, I guess you really are an idiot
POW BANG BANG
Bush, They Say, Is Indeed a Connecticut Yankee From King Henry's Court - NYTimes.com
By STEVE LOHR, Special to the New York Times
Published: July 5, 1988
Vice President Bush may be narrowly trailing Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in the opinion polls, but he is far ahead according to another indicator of Presidential prospects: the ''royalty factor.''
''Going by the statistics of the past, Mr. Bush will be the next President of the United States,'' said Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage Ltd., the 162-year-old directory of British nobility.
Burke's Peerage today released a report tracing the Vice President's family tree to the 1400's. The study by Burke's senior genealogist, Roger Powell, and an American colleague, William Ward, found that Mr. Bush has more connections to British and European royalty than any President of the United States. Queen's 13th Cousin
For example, Mr. Bush is a 13th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and is related to all members of the British royal family, according to Burke's genealogists. Moreover, he is related to all those who have married into the British royal family, like the Queen Mother, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York. Mr. Bush is also related to all current European monarchs on or off the throne, including the King of Albania.
To the unenlightened, this lofty lineage may seem worlds apart from the back-slapping, baby-kissing spectacle of American Presidential races. But the royalty factor cannot be easily disregarded, if the past is any guide, Burke's officials say. Of the 40 American Presidents, 13 have had a direct connection to European royalty.
The frequency with which royal blood has found its way into the White House is much higher than the share of the American population with links to British or European monarchs, which is estimated at less than 5 percent. In short, American Presidents have been at least six times more likely to have royal blood than the people who elected them.
The royalty factor, Mr. Brooks-Baker suggests, is a genetic phenomenon. ''The genes or chromosomes for leaders come forward whether it's kings or presidents,'' he said. ''You cannot hold back the genes.''
In the case of the Vice President's genes, Burke's Peerage traced the Bush family tree to the 1400's. Mr. Bush is a direct descendant of King Henry VII, of one of Charles II's mistresses and of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary, who married King Louis XII of France. His American Roots
Charles II's mistress Barbara Villiers lived from 1641 to 1706 and was a sixth cousin of the Vice President's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wellington Fay, Mr. Brooks-Baker said.
Miss Villiers's liaison with the King lasted 12 years and she had seven children, of whom only five were publicy acknowledged as his. Mr. Bush's American roots were planted by Dr. Richard Palgrave, his grandfather seven times removed, who came to America in 1630, Mr. Brooks-Baker said.
According to Burke's, which has traced the genealogy of American Presidential families for years, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams were all related to Edward I. In the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt were descended from Dutch nobility. Jimmy Carter has kinship ties to noble Scottish and English families, while President Reagan is a direct descendant of the 11th-century High King of Ireland, Brian Boru.
If elected, Mr. Bush would be the ''most royal'' of any American president. For now, that distinction belongs to George Washington. 'Typical Yankee Family'
In the past, Burke's has published its genealogical reports on American politicians after they are elected President. But, Mr. Brooks-Baker said, the Vice President comes from ''a typical old Yankee family,'' which promised several royal links, so the interest of the Burke's genealogists was piqued and they went ahead before the election.
Burke's has not yet done a genealogical study of the Dukakis family tree. However, Mr. Brooks-Baker is dubious about finding anything to rival the Bush wealth of royal connections. ''The son of a Greek immigrant - the chance of getting very far with him is remote,'' he said.
''Poor George,'' said Kevin Phillips, a Republican political analyst. ''For an American politician trying to increase his popularity with the American public, it can't be too helpful to have the issue of royal lineage raised.''