Two presidents of the United States, George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush, descend from Robert Livingston the Elder, the Scottish émigré who founded Livingston Manor in 1686.
The line does not run through Philip the Signer, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, or Barbara Pierce Bush. It comes through Prescott Bush's mother, Flora Sheldon, on the Bush paternal side.
The Short Answer
- The Livingston blood enters the Bush family through the mother of Senator Prescott Bush.
- The descent comes from a collateral branch, not from the famous Signer or Chancellor.
- Because they share Robert the Elder, the Bush presidents are distant cousins of other Livingston descendants, including Eleanor Roosevelt and the Fish, Astor, and Kean families.
The Line of Descent
| # | Ancestor | Lived | How the line continues |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Livingston the Elder | 1654-1728 | 1st Lord of Livingston Manor; shared ancestor |
| 2 | James Livingston | 1728-1790 | Grandson of the 1st Lord; Poughkeepsie branch |
| 3 | Gilbert James Livingston | 1758-1833 | Married Susannah Lewis; the branch moves toward Oneida County |
| 4 | Judith Livingston | 1785-1858 | Married Samuel Herrick Butler |
| 5 | Courtland Philip Livingston Butler | 1813-1891 | Settled in Columbus, Ohio |
| 6 | Mary Elizabeth Butler | 1850-1897 | Married Robert Emmet Sheldon |
| 7 | Flora Sheldon | 1872-1920 | Married Samuel Prescott Bush |
| 8 | Prescott Sheldon Bush | 1895-1972 | U.S. Senator from Connecticut |
| 9 | George H. W. Bush | 1924-2018 | 41st President of the United States |
| 10 | George W. Bush | b. 1946 | 43rd President of the United States |
A note on the earliest link
Genealogists agree that James Livingston was a grandson of Robert Livingston the Elder, though they differ on which son of the first Lord was his father. The descent from Robert the Elder is unaffected.
The Quiet Road to Ohio
Most histories follow the senior Manor line or the Clermont line. The Bushes come down a quieter road: a Poughkeepsie and Oneida County branch whose Livingston surname eventually disappears into the Butler and Sheldon families.
Judith Livingston married Samuel Herrick Butler, and their son Courtland Philip Livingston Butler preserved the family tie in his name. His descendants carried the bloodline into Columbus, Ohio, then into the Bush family through Flora Sheldon.
Cousins, Not Descendants
The Bush presidents do not descend from Philip Livingston the Signer or Chancellor Robert R. Livingston. They are collateral cousins. George H. W. Bush is a first cousin seven times removed from Philip the Signer; George W. Bush is a first cousin eight times removed.
The shared ancestor makes the Bushes part of a wider Livingston cousinhood that includes Eleanor Roosevelt, Astors, Fishes, Keans, and other political and social dynasties.
Why It Matters
Same ancestor, different roads
The Livingstons who stayed on the Hudson produced signers and statesmen. The branch that moved quietly west produced two presidents four generations later.