Barack Obama: Difference between revisions

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of [[family of Barack Obama|his extended family]]: "It's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like [[Bernie Mac]], and I've got relatives who look like [[Margaret Thatcher]]."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/oprahshow1_ss_20061018/10 |title = Keeping Hope Alive: Barack Obama Puts Family First |date = October 18, 2006 |website = The Oprah Winfrey Show |access-date = June 24, 2008 |archive-date = April 17, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090417020958/http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/oprahshow1_ss_20061018/10 |url-status = live }}</ref> Obama has a half-sister with whom he was raised (Maya Soetoro-Ng) and seven other half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family, six of them living.<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Fornek |title=Half Siblings: 'A Complicated Family' |date=September 9, 2007 |url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545462,BSX-News-wotrees09.stng |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5msGZ6sKn?url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545462,BSX-News-wotrees09.stng |archive-date=January 18, 2010 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead}} See also: {{cite news |url=http://www.suntimes.com/images/cds/special/family_tree.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703042659/http://www.suntimes.com/images/cds/special/family_tree.html |archive-date=July 3, 2008 |title=Interactive Family Tree |date=September 9, 2007 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 24, 2008 }}</ref> Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham,<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Fornek |title=Madelyn Payne Dunham: 'A Trailblazer' |date=September 9, 2007 |url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545449,BSX-News-wotreeee09.stng |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304232433/http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545449,BSX-News-wotreeee09.article |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> until her death on November 2, 2008,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/obama.grandma/index.html |title = Obama's grandmother dies after battle with cancer |publisher = CNN |access-date = November 4, 2008 |date = November 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103235343/http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/obama.grandma/index.html |archive-date = November 3, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> two days before his election to the presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in [[Moneygall]] in May 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/tracing-barack-obamas-roo_b_859151.html |title = Tracing Barack Obama's Roots to Moneygall |date = May 9, 2011 |work = The Huffington Post |first = Megan |last = Smolenyak |access-date = February 18, 2020 |archive-date = September 15, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180915183446/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/tracing-barack-obamas-roo_b_859151.html |url-status = live }}</ref> In ''[[Dreams from My Father]]'', Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of [[Jefferson Davis]], [[President of the Confederate States of America]] during the American Civil War. He also shares distant ancestors in common with [[George W. Bush]] and [[Dick Cheney]], among others.<ref>Obama (1995, 2004), p. 13. For reports on Obama's maternal genealogy, including slave owners, Irish connections, and common ancestors with George W. Bush, [[Dick Cheney]], and [[Harry S. Truman]], see: {{cite news|first1=David |last1=Nitkin |first2=Harry |last2=Merritt |title=A New Twist to an Intriguing Family History |date=March 2, 2007 |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02,0,3453027.story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033339/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02%2C0%2C3453027.story |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mary |last=Jordan |title=Tiny Irish Village Is Latest Place to Claim Obama as Its Own |date=May 13, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201551.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-date=April 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405183959/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201551.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Obama's Family Tree Has a Few Surprises |date=September 8, 2007 |publisher=CBS 2 (Chicago) |url=http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Barack.Obama.family.2.339709.html |agency=Associated Press |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602215833/http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Barack.Obama.family.2.339709.html |archive-date=June 2, 2008 }}</ref>