NINE  BLACK PRESIDENTS: SPECULATIVE HISTORY/ SOCIAL GENEOLOGY

4/5/ 2022

INTRODUCTION:

On the margins of history are personal accounts of presidents that may not make history books or textbooks. The author wants to present printed, but not necessarily authenticated backgrounds of 9 presidents with allegedly African ancestry. Unfortunately, race matters. This account deals with males of white appearance in the Oval office.

They may have trace ancestry, or be octoroons, quadroons, or bi-racial, or they may be white. Although the “one drop” measure is slowly dying, it is not dead. What does it matter that a person is white on the outside but is partially black on the inside? It really should not matter, but it does. “Passing” is still pervasive today.

This article is written to discover from interested historical researchers the race of nine presidents that have been mentioned as having Black ancestry. Others are invited to do the necessary histography to validate or dismiss the ancestry of these individuals.

Incidentally, this does not cover Asian, Native Americans, or other non-African minorities. It is “blackness” that in common vernacular impacts the most on the individual. One only needs to talk with visibly black people about color and African features to test the above statement.

DISCUSSION:

The following have been indicated by others as having African heritage.

1. THOMAS JEFFERSON- bi-racial father (Vaughn, 2004.)
2. ANDREW JACKSON-black father, brother sold into slavery (Vaughn, 2004.)
3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN- illegitimate son of black father, mother had trace black ancestry.(Vaughn,2004)
4. WARREN HARDING- both parents had mixed African ancestry. (Vaughn, 2004.)
5. CALVIN COOLIDGE- mother was  African and Indian( Vaughn, 2004)
6. DWIGHT EISENHOWER-maternal grandfather was black (Blair, 2004.)
7. GEORGE H.W. BUSH- distant cousin to Scottish African-American Colin Powell (secretary of state in 1^st administration of George W. Bush.) (msn.ancestry.com) He is also a distant relative to Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge (gallopade.com.) See# 3 and #5. Further, Murrah (2000) suggests that Melungeons are a mixed race of possible Indian/African/ Caucasian ancestry in New England freely married whites. This would apply to Princess Pocahontas and John Rolfe who are in George Bush’s ancestry. However, the author does NOT suggest that that this is fact. Rather, that it suggests that one-drop could apply to both Bushes.
8. GEORGE W. BUSH-see #7.

      9.   BARACK H. OBAMA- Father is west African and mother is Caucasian. He was 

            born in Hawaii.

CONCLUSION:

Is the above correct? Now is the time to do the necessary research. This is particularly true when so many are now coming forward to talk about their mental health, sexual orientation, and other areas not part of public discussion in the past.

This article has been a review of the possible racial backgrounds of 9 presidents of the United States.

REFERENCES CITED

Blair, Jim (2004) www.bigissueground.com/history/blair-blackpresidents.shtml

________ (2004) www.gallopade.com/client_images/Samples/95_Bush_Roots(3-5).jpg

________ (2004) http://.msn.ancestry.com/landing/msn/strange/bush3/index.htm?o_xid=6322&o_lid+6322….

Murrah, Lee (2000) www.murrah.com/gen/redbones.htm

Vaughn, Leroy (2004) Five Black Presidents,www.geocities.com/cureworks/5blkpres.htm

ADDITIONAL BIBILOGRAPHY FROM VAUGHN (2004) see full source above.

Adler, D (1987) Thomas Jefferson: Founder of our Democracy, New York: Holiday House

Bakhufu, A. (1993) the Six Black Presidents, Washington, D.C.: PIK2 Publications.

Bennett, L. (1988) Before the Mayflower, New Penguin Books.

Brodie, F. (1974) Thomas Jefferson, an Intimate History, and New York: New York, W.W. Norton & Co.

Curtis, J.  (1982) Return to these Hills: The Vermont Years of Calvin Coolidge. Woodstock, Vermont, Curtis-Lieberman Books.

Dennis, R. (1970) the Black People of America, New York: McGraw Hill Book. Co.

Erickson, E. (1974) Dimensions of a New Identity: Jefferson Lectures. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Kane, J. (1981) Facts about the Presidents: From George Washington to Ronald Reagan. New York; the H. W. Wilson Co.

Map, A. (1987) Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity. New York: Coward-McCann Inc.

Remini, R. (1966) Andrew Jackson. New York: Harper & Row.

Reuter, E. (1969) the Mulatto in the United States, Haskell House.

Rogers J. (1965) Sex and Race. St. Petersburg, FL. Helga Rogers Publiching.

Rogers, J. (1965) the Five Negro Presidents. St. Petersburg, FL. Helga Rogers Publishing.

Sullivan, M. (1991) Presidential Passions: The Love Affairs of America’s Presidents,

Shaplosky Publishers, Inc.

ADDENDUM

The interest in this issue arises from the onset of the campaign for president by Senator Barack Obama *of Illinois, now President of the United States.. The author wants to state as clearly as possible that when something is published such as the references above, this does not make the subject being studied true. This is why the “speculative history” is used. The reader is encouraged to do their own research in this area. Caveats and apologies should be noted if a source is wrong. Any contrary material should be brought to the public’s attention.

Lavoie,D. (2008:4/15) news.yahoo.com/s/20080325/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_genealogy

*Since this original report, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has traced Obama as a relative to George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman, and James Madison. Other cousins include Dick Cheney, Sir Wintston Churchill, and Robert E, Lee.