By DENISE LAVOIE,

March 26, Yahoo


BOSTON - This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.

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. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.

"You'd think with all that singing talent in the family she'd be able to carry a tune," Clinton's senior adviser Philippe Reines said. "But now it makes much more sense how she snagged a Grammy."

Clinton won for best spoken word Grammy in 1997 for "It Takes a Village." Obama also won a Grammy in that category this year for the audio version of his book, "The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream."

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photo: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, is shown at a presidential primary debate in Orangeburg, SC., in this April 26, 2007, file photo, and actor Brad Pitt, right, arrives at the premiere of 'Ocean's Thirteen' in Los Angeles, Calif., in this Tuesday, June 5, 2007, file photo. Research conducted by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston found that Obama and Pitt are distant relatives (AP Photos)