So apparently, we have France to thank for Obama and Buffett.
President Obama and Warren Buffett are seventh cousins three times removed via a 17th century Frenchman, according to genealogists at Ancestry.com.
The leader of the free world and that world's second richest man are related through Mareen Duvall, a French immigrant who settled in Maryland in the 1650s. Duvall is Obama's 9th great grandfather and Buffett's 6th great grandfather.
The discovery was apparently made by accident when Obama researchers went on to investigate details about Buffett's family history.
"We recognized the name Duvall and it made us wonder if this was a connection," said Anastasia Tyler, the lead researcher on the project, to Reuters. "So we started focusing on Duvall."
"We're always looking for a way to show how interesting family history is. Like this, when you start finding similarities in family trees," Tyler said. "The tree leads you in directions you don't expect."
The family tree shows Obama related to Duvall through his mother Stanley Ann Dunham, while Buffett is linked to Duvall through his father Howard Buffett.
Duvall's story is hardly one of wealth and privilege. He was an indentured servant upon his arrival in America, but by 1659 had brought property in Maryland was considered a "country gentleman."
This isn't the first startling discovery concerning the Obama's family tree.
Earlier this year, Michelle Obama was linked, through an enslaved ancestor, to a white family.
