Family History

Recently President Monson and Elder Oaks along with Senate Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid (also a member) visited President Obama at the White House. They presented President Obama with a five volume family history. President Monson noted the US president's "heritage is rich with examples of leadership, sacrifice and service. We were very pleased to research his family history and are honored to present it to him today."

For the past three US presidents, Obama, Bush, and Clinton, the church has presented similar family histories. A number of questions and thoughts come to mind. First of all though I don't do family history I'm proud to belong to a faith that includes some of the world's most renown family historians. Recently I met with a non-LDS patient's family and noticed a book on doing one's own genealogy on their coffee table. Sure enough it was written by a professor of family history at BYU and they were convinced this was the ultimate resource in doing family history.

Obama probably has the most interesting and challenging history. Not only did they have to trace his Midwestern heritage but they had to dig into Kenyan records. That could not have been easy but it must have been fascinating watching these two very different family histories, one European the other African, merge into one.

Clinton would have been interesting too. Keep in mind Clinton's original given name was William Blythe III and his father was killed in a car accident three months before Slick Willy was born. So did the church do his biological and adopted father's history or just the Clinton side? Good thing they met with Clinton before the Lewinsky debacle or else that could have been a little awkward.

Let's face it, Bush's American Aristocratic lineage was probably the dullest and easiest to produce. However, the Bush family also has a proud and successful history serving the country for multiple generations.

I appreciated Senator Reid's remarks when he said, "I thank President Monson and Elder Oaks for sharing our religion’s tradition of genealogical research with the president and his family...Recognizing the president and first lady's deep regard for family, I am honored that our church can have any part in documenting their family history."

Furthermore I appreciate President Obama's efforts at asserting the importance of fatherhood and demonstrated that family history is another way of bonding with our children when he remarked, "I enjoyed my meeting with President Monson and Elder Oaks. I'm grateful for the genealogical records that they brought with them and am looking forward to reading through the materials with my daughters. It's something our family will treasure for years to come."

What do you think? Which president has the most interesting family history? Whose was the most challenging? Which president was most likely to sit down and actually look over the provided material? Makes me wish I had a bigger interest in genealogy.