Ethnicity of U.S. Presidents

[LINCOLN REPUBLICAN]

Ethnic origins of U.S. Presidents

43 men have served as President, with the following ethnic origins

27 English
 2 English/Scottish
 2 English/Welsh
 4 Scottish
 1 Scottish/Irish
 2 Irish
 3 Dutch
 1 German
 1 African

Fully, 38 of the 43 Presidents ethnic backgrounds are from the British Isles
 
English

Adams (John)
Adams (John Q)
Bush (George)
Bush (George W)
Carter
Cleveland
Clinton
Coolidge
Fillmore
Ford
Garfield
Harding
Harrison (Benjamin)
Harrison (William Henry)
Hoover
Jackson
Jefferson
Johnson (Andrew)
Johnson (Lyndon)
Lincoln
Madison
Nixon
Taft
Taylor
Truman
Tyler
Washington

English/Scottish

Hayes
Wilson

English/Welsh

Arthur
Pierce

Scottish

Buchanan
Grant
McKinley
Polk

Scottish/Irish
Monroe

Irish

Kennedy (Irish Catholic)
Reagan (Irish Protestant)

Dutch

Roosevelt (Theodore)
Roosevelt (Franklin)
Van Buren

German

Eisenhower

African (Kenyan)

Obama

After Obama, some may think it will be time for more diversity. 

Thoughts?

[patrick1]

My thoughts are that Andrew Jackson would probably want to shoot you in a duel.  He hated the English and was Scotch Irish.

Whether you want to consider it an ethnicity is another point but at least 10 US President were Scots-Irish.   The Protestants of NI are quite proud of this- you go to a semi touristy area bookstore and this is trumped.  You can visit  the ancestral homelands as well.  drove right by C.A. Arthur's but didn't stop by.

[12th Doctor]

Ethnic origins of U.S. Presidents

43 men have served as President, with the following ethnic origins

27 English
 2 English/Scottish
 2 English/Welsh
 4 Scottish
 1 Scottish/Irish
 2 Irish
 3 Dutch
 1 German
 1 African

Fully, 38 of the 43 Presidents ethnic backgrounds are from the British Isles
 
English

Adams (John)
Adams (John Q)
Bush (George)
Bush (George W)
Carter
Cleveland
Clinton
Coolidge
Fillmore
Ford
Garfield
Harding
Harrison (Benjamin)
Harrison (William Henry)
Hoover
Jackson
Jefferson
Johnson (Andrew)
Johnson (Lyndon)
Lincoln
Madison
Nixon
Taft
Taylor
Truman
Tyler
Washington

English/Scottish

Hayes
Wilson

English/Welsh

Arthur
Pierce

Scottish

Buchanan
Grant
McKinley
Polk

Scottish/Irish
Monroe

Irish

Kennedy (Irish Catholic)
Reagan (Irish Protestant)

Dutch

Roosevelt (Theodore)
Roosevelt (Franklin)
Van Buren

German

Eisenhower

African (Kenyan)

Obama

After Obama, some may think it will be time for more diversity. 

Thoughts?

Those stats are a little one sided... in that they only represent one of that Presidents ethnic backgrounds.  As we all know, Obama is not just African, and most of the guys on that list were more than just one thing.

[12th Doctor]

Nixon alone was Scotch, Irish, Scotch-Irish, English, and German.

I have absolutely no idea why you would choose "English" in particular out of that mix as that only represents one eighth of his ancestry on his mother's side.

And you have similar stories for all of these.  Grant was Scottish and English, I have no idea why you chose Scottish in particular here.  Harding was English, Irish, Scottish and Dutch.  FDR was also also largely French, but was also Swedish, Finnish and English.  TR was Dutch, Scottish, French and English.

And the list goes on, and on, and on... several Presidents had Amerindian heritage, and Warren Harding might have been part African.

P.S. For the record, Obama is of most English heritage on his mother's side.

And for you conspiracy nuts out there, and those of you who are followers of obscure trends in Presidential elections, yes, Obama does have closer blood ties to the British Royal Family than McCain.

[LINCOLN REPUBLICAN]

Thank you for your timely thoughts.

However, can you imagine how utterly complicated and unwieldy this list would become if I included all the ancestral origins of all the Presidents from all sides of their family history?

[Magic 8-Ball]

It almost looks like you tried grouping by their last names alone, which isn't a great way to go.  "Hoover", for instance, is the anglicized form of the German "Huber".  Theodore Roosevelt, as Supersoulty hinted, was more Scottish than Dutch.  The Bushes have significant German ancestry.

And the list goes on, and on, and on... several Presidents had Amerindian heritage, and Warren Harding might have been part African.

Actually, there's no verifiable evidence that any presidents have had Amerindian ancestry, despite rumors otherwise.  Same thing with Harding and Africa.  Cite 

In Harding's case, I think the speculation started with Frances Russell's book The Shadow of Blooming Grove.  There's another book that was written a long time ago that speculated that five presidents, including Harding and Coolidge, had African ancestry, but again, genealogists find these claims highly unlikely.

And for you conspiracy nuts out there, and those of you who are followers of obscure trends in Presidential elections, yes, Obama does have closer blood ties to the British Royal Family than McCain.

Don't give Stark more fodder.  Then again, I'm sure he's well aware of that theory.

[Vepres]

Isn't Obama half-Irish or something like that?

[Magic 8-Ball]

Isn't Obama half-Irish or something like that?

It's actually more like 3 percent, at least according to the genealogist that I cited above.  Apparently, that's enough for the Irish to adopt and write songs about him.

[JSojourner]

Not many Eastern Europeans, even as candidates for President.  Dukakis was Greek.  I am trying to think of the others...(I suppose more names would pop up if we delved into the primary lists over the years.)

[nclib]

Thank you for your timely thoughts.

However, can you imagine how utterly complicated and unwieldy this list would become if I included all the ancestral origins of all the Presidents from all sides of their family history?

I suppose you could list the ancestries that make up the highest proportion in each case. Otherwise, good work.

Do you know any ancestry lists for current members of Congress?

[Grumps]

After Obama, some may think it will be time for more diversity. 

Thoughts?

Is your question code for "Mormon"?

[??????????]

Van Buren was probably the most ethnic. He actually spoke Dutch as his first language and had an accent, from all reliable sources.

[LINCOLN REPUBLICAN]

After Obama, some may think it will be time for more diversity. 

Thoughts?

Is your question code for "Mormon"?

Now that question is off the wall. 

My question is code for nothing.

38 of the 43 Presidents have ethnic backgrounds from the British Isles.  My question is straight forward.  Is it time, 4 or 8 years from now, for example, to elect a President, say, who has an Italian background, or a Hispanic background, or an Eastern European background, or whatever.

As for a Mormon President, this has nothing to do with ethnicity.  Mitt Romney has a background from England, although, I do admit, he would make a great President.     

[dead0man]

Considering how many German Americans we have and how few of our Presidents have been German Americans, I think we're due for a string of 4 or 5 of them.

[??????????]

Considering how many German Americans we have and how few of our Presidents have been German Americans, I think we're due for a string of 4 or 5 of them.

We've had a Kenyan born president, so hey, why not?

[Lunar]

so, worldnetdaily finally found that birth certificate, I see

[??????????]

What do God and Barack Obama have in common?

Neither have a birth certificate.

How are God and Barack Obama dissimilar?

God never wanted to be Barack Obama.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Considering how many German Americans we have and how few of our Presidents have been German Americans, I think we're due for a string of 4 or 5 of them.

We've had a Kenyan born president, so hey, why not?

What do God and Barack Obama have in common?

Neither have a birth certificate.

How are God and Barack Obama dissimilar?

God never wanted to be Barack Obama.

[All life is a blur of Republicans and meat.]

Regan wasn't real Irish.

[patrick1]

Regan wasn't real Irish.

Reagan had ancestors from County Tipperary.
I'm just curious if you
1. are resorting to No True Scotsman defense http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
on ideological grounds
2. having a faith based test of Irish ethnicity which I ignorantly subscribed to in my younger days.
3. just being ironical

[Hatman]

Northern Ireland is the real Ireland. Or at least the best part of Ireland.

Ironic that Reagan, a terrible President had ancestry from the best part of Ireland whereas Kennedy whose ancestry is from the Papist part, was a good president.

[patrick1]

Northern Ireland is the real Ireland. Or at least the best part of Ireland.

Ironic that Reagan, a terrible President had ancestry from the best part of Ireland whereas Kennedy whose ancestry is from the Papist part, was a good president.

Tipperary is not in N. Ireland wiseguy