Reuters enlisted six of its researchers to trace the lineage of America's political elite and its connection to the country's history of slavery. This extensive survey began at a sandstone monument at the Capitol entrance, reminding us that the builders of this symbol of America were enslaved Black people. The survey concludes that slavery is the "original sin of the nation," and from that experience and the never-ending "slave rolls," the political elite must learn from slavery's legacy in the journey toward "the need for healing from racism."
Under the title "The Secret of American Families," the Reuters survey found that over 100 U.S. leaders—lawmakers, presidents, governors, and judges—have ancestors who owned enslaved people of color. Few are willing to discuss their connection to America's "original sin." However, the six researchers, Tom Lassiter, Lawrence Delevin, McKinney Price, Donna Bryson, Nicholas P. Brown, and Tom Bergen, took on the task of tracking this mission in a journey of acknowledging a past that many politicians have rejected, while others come to terms with their history and ancestors.
The sandstone block in the U.S. Capitol building serves as a reminder that the Congressional home of the nation was partially constructed by enslaved Black people. A bronze plaque states that the stone, originally part of the building's exterior, "honors their significant role in the construction of the Capitol." The survey reveals, "Many lawmakers need not look beyond their family history to find a much deeper personal connection with slavery in America, a brutal system of oppression that led to some of the bloodiest conflicts in U.S. history." Tracing the ancestries of the political elite shows that one in five members of Congress, as well as living presidents and Supreme Court justices, have ancestors who enslaved Black people. Among the 536 members of the recent Congress, Reuters identified that at least 100 descend from lineages that owned enslaved people. More than a quarter of the senators—28 members—trace their families to at least one ancestor linked to enslavers.
The survey indicates that lawmakers from the 117th Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have connections to people who owned slaves. This includes some of the most influential politicians in America: Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, and James Lankford, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen, and Maggie Hassan. Additionally, President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president—except Donald Trump—are directly descended from enslavers: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and through his white mother, Barack Obama, while Trump's ancestors arrived in America after slavery was abolished. There are two out of nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court—Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch—who also have direct ancestors who enslaved people.
Reuters found that in 2022, governors of 11 out of 50 U.S states are descended from slaveholders, including eight executives from the 11 states that formed the Confederacy that seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. Two of them are seeking the Republican nomination for president: Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.
The survey begins in South Carolina, where the Civil War began, showing the family ties between America's political elite and the history of slavery in the country. It clarifies: "Every member of the state's nine-person delegation to the most recent Congress has links to enslaved individuals. Both Black members of Congress from the state—the Republican Senate candidate Tim Scott and Democratic Representative James Clyburn—have enslaved ancestors. The seven white representatives serving in the 117th Congress also have direct connections to slaveholders, as does the state's Republican governor, Henry McMaster."
Reuters found that at least 8% of the Democrats in the last Congress and 28% of Republicans have ancestors of this kind. The predominance of Republicans reflects the party's strength in the South, where slavery was concentrated. Although whites enslaved Black people throughout Northern states in the early formation of America, by the eve of the Civil War, slavery was almost exclusively a Southern institution.
The report reveals how closely America is tied to the institution of slavery, including through "the people who make the laws governing our country," as stated by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard University professor focusing on research and African Americans. Gates notes that identifying those family links to slave owners is "not another chapter in the blame game." He emphasizes, "We do not inherit the guilt of our ancestors' actions. It simply says: look how closely we are tied to the institution of slavery and how it has affected the lives of the ancestors of those who represent us in the U.S. Congress today. This is an educational opportunity for everyone. It is also an opportunity to learn for their electoral constituents... and for the American people as a whole."
In addition to the political leaders identified by Reuters, genealogist Tony Burroughs, who specializes in helping Black Americans trace their ancestry, states that "there are millions of Americans descended from enslaved people as well." He highlights, "What is unclear is how the proportion of leaders descended from enslavers compares to all Americans. Among scholars, there is no agreement on exactly how many Americans today descended from people who enslaved others."
Few leaders have documented relationships with former slaveholders, including Biden, Obama, and McConnell. Scholars and journalists have also extensively examined slavery and its legacy, including how the North benefitted from the institution and the role slavery played in the decisions of past political leaders during and after the formation of America.
Reuters notes that the study it prepared "focuses on the most powerful officeholders in the U.S. today, many of whom hold key positions on race-related policies. It reveals for the first time, widely and in detail, the extent of their ancestors' connections to what is commonly referred to as America's 'original sin.' It explores what it might mean for them to learn—personally, specifically, and sometimes graphically—about the truths underlying their relatives' roles in slavery."
The survey shows that few were willing to discuss the topic: only a quarter of those identified as having enslaved ancestors commented on the subject. They expressed reservations about the enduring sensitivity of slavery as a political issue, a concern that genealogist Burroughs notes is greatly amplified for many when one's relatives are connected to such a brutal institution.
To trace the lineages of political elites, Reuters journalists collected tens of thousands of data points from thousands of pages of documents. They analyzed U.S. census records, including pre-war statistics known as "slave schedules," as well as tax documents, real estate records, family bibles, newspaper accounts, and birth and death certificates. The records provided a profound link between today's decision-makers and slavery.
The survey shows that after the death of one of Senator Lindsey Graham's ancestors, a South Carolina Republican named Joseph Maddox, a property dated February 1, 1845, was sold showing the sale of eight people enslaved by Maddox. Among them were five children: Cila, Rubin, James, Sal, and Green. "The Black man Sam" was sold for $155.25, alongside a horse for $10.50 and a folding table for $9.87. In previous encounters, he had noted in response to interview requests, "Let’s look at a more perfect union instead of looking back."
Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, is descended from a family of enslavers. Years after emancipation, a formerly enslaved man recalled being forced to work with John Mace, who enslaved seven people in 1860. John Mace is Nancy Mace's great-great-grandfather. In a 1937 interview, the man, Hector Goodbolt, recounted witnessing an overseer, summoned by John Mace's wife, whip an enslaved person on a fence board 75 times, stating, "The blood flowed from him just as you see a stream running." Nancy Mace initially agreed to an interview but then canceled. She later provided this statement in response to the family tree submitted by Reuters: "I do not recognize those mentioned and cannot confirm that they are relatives, but slavery was a stain on this country, and we as Americans should be grateful for the progress we have made since the 1860s."
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth described what came out of Reuters' survey about her ancestors as "painful." In a 1829 assessment of her ancestors' holdings, it is noted that Henry Coe enslaved a Black family: "Margaret will remain enslaved until she reaches 40 years of age, her son Isaac until he is 36 years old, as will her son Warner until he turns 36...". The will stated that each would be freed when reaching their respective ages. Reuters could not determine the fate of three of the enslaved individuals. However, a "freedom suit" in Virginia from 1858 shows that Isaac Franklin sought emancipation at the age of 36. By 1860, he was listed in Frederick County, Virginia, where he lived freely and worked as a blacksmith.
New perspectives about the ancestral ties of political elite to slavery come at a time when intense debate is renewed around the meaning of the institution's legacy and what lawmakers should do about it.
Reuters explains that protests over police treatment of Black Americans rocked the U.S. after a white police officer in Minnesota killed George Floyd, a Black man, in May 2020. Activists pressured for the removal of Confederate statues, and tensions flared along party lines. In September 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting federal funding for training that depicts the U.S. as "fundamentally racist or biased against women." Biden rescinded the order in January 2021.
It adds: "Politicians and legal experts continue to grapple with a range of questions, such as how to teach slavery and racism in American classrooms. One contentious issue is reparations for Americans whose ancestors were enslaved. In May 2022, groups of activists urged President Biden to establish a federal commission under an executive order 'to study and develop proposals for reparations for Black Americans.' The White House did not comment on the activists' efforts or on Biden's ancestral connections to slavery, noting that census records show his great-great-grandfather enslaved a 14-year-old boy in 1850.
None of the 118 leaders identified by Reuters disputed the findings that at least one of their ancestors enslaved people. In a letter outlining the project to them, Reuters clarified that it did not imply they were "personally responsible for the actions of their ancestors who lived 160 years ago or more." Still, few leaders were willing to discuss their familial relationships with slavery.
