Michael,
On hearing that he is an 8th cousin of Dick Cheney, Barack Obama said, tongue in cheek, “Every family has a black sheep.”
Lynne Cheney tells about the relationship.
The details of the ancestry were written up in the Bowie Blade News:
An interesting side note–the place where Obama’s and Cheney’s common ancestor, Mareen Duvall, lived was the Marietta Mansion near Bowie, MD. Our daughter Katie worked there for many years as a docent, but I don’t think anyone at the Mansion, including her, knew about this curious relationship until now.
Obama himself knew that some of his white ancestors owned slaves, but not the exact “tortured, tangled” history.
–rakkity
I think he’s put the Biblically requisite three generations between himself and the sins of his fathers …
So you may be responsible for the sins of your grandfather, but not those of your great-great grandfather?