On this of all weekends when we celebrate Independence, we should take time to remember the Presidents who have led this country and shaped into what it is today.

While we pay homage to these leaders, a special mention must be made to those Presidents with Irish blood in their veins.  These men, who ascended to the country's greatest office, inspire all Irish Americans.  Here is a list of those Presidents and their Irish connections.


1 Andrew Jackson (both parents born in Ireland)

2 James Buchanan (both parents)

3 Chester Arthur (father)

4 Woodrow Wilson (paternal grandparents)

5 Grover Cleveland (maternal grandfather, maternal great-great-grandmother)

6 Andrew Johnson (paternal grandfather)

7 John F. Kennedy (all eight paternal and maternal great-grandparents) 8 Benjamin Harrison (two maternal great-grandfathers)

9 Ronald Reagan (two paternal great-grandparents)

10 Ulysses Grant (maternal great-grandmother)

11 William McKinley (two paternal great-great-grandfathers)

12 James Polk (paternal great-great-great-grandfather)

13 Barack Obama (maternal great-great-great-grandfather)

14 Richard Nixon (paternal and maternal great-great-great-great-grandparents)

15 Theodore Roosevelt (maternal great-great-great-great grandparent)

DISTANT OR UNCONFIRMED:

16 George H. Bush (at least one Irish ancestor at great-great-great-great-grandparent level and above)

17 Lyndon Johnson (Irish-born great-great-great-great-grandparent unconfirmed)

18 Jimmy Carter (Irish ancestry unconfirmed)

19 Leslie (Lynch) King (later Gerald Ford: Irish ancestry unconfirmed)

20 William (Cassidy) Blythe (later Bill Clinton: Irish ancestry unconfirmed)