RTFA: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and…

Barack Obama says he is an agent of change, a fresh face to lead America, but there is one thing he won’t be boasting about on the campaign trail: that he is related to Dick Cheney.

Lynn Cheney, the US Vice-President’s wife, said she discovered the improbable connection between the African-American Democratic presidential candidate and her husband while researching her ancestry.

Mr Obama – charismatic anti-war son of a black Kenyan goatherd and white Kansan mother – and Mr Cheney – immensely powerful and very white Bush administration hawk – are eighth cousins, Mrs Cheney said.

eighth cousins?