US Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and opponent Hillary Clinton is related to Angelina Jolie, according to a new study.
Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society have found family connections for all three US presidential candidates.
Mrs Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette.
Mr Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six US presidents, including George W Bush, his cousins.
Republican party candidate John McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.
Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.
'It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect,' Mr Child said.
Mr Obama has a presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans.
His distant cousins include President George W Bush and his father, George HW Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S Truman and James Madison.
Other Mr Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E Lee.
Mr Obama often jokes about his cousin Mr Cheney at campaign appearances.
Genealogist Mr Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, 'Ancestors of American Presidents'.
Mrs Clinton's distant cousins include author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.
Mr McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton.
Mr Obama and President Bush are tenth cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.
Mr Pitt and Mr Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on the senator's ancestry.
Mrs Clinton and Ms Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, is the oldest and largest nonprofit genealogical organization in the country.
