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Throughout his political career of more than 40 years, US President Joe Biden has proudly
embraced his Irish roots -- which can be traced back to the great famine, per US genealogist
Megan Smolenyak. While Biden may be quick to quote an Irish poet and pay respects to his
maternal ancestry, less has been said about his paternal lineage and heritage.
Anew publication citing West Virginia-based genealogist Alexander Bannerman and lineage
expert Gary Boyd Roberts has concluded that at least two of Biden's paternal ancestors
enslaved multiple people in the 19th century.
The experts' findings are highlighted in Politico correspondent Ben Schreckinger’s upcoming
book, "The Bidens: Inside the First Family’s Fifty-Year Rise to Power," and have been regarded
as the first full, authoritative genealogy of Biden to be published.
According to an excerpt from the forthcoming work. Bannerman was able to confirm via the
1800 Census that Biden's great-great-great-grandfather, Jesse Robinett, was listed as the
owner of two enslaved people in Alleghany County, Maryland, at the time.
Thomas Randle, another 3rd-great-grandfather of the US president, enslaved a 14-year-old boy
in Baltimore County, Maryland, according to 1850 Census records and slave schedules cited by
the genealogist. Randle remained listed as an enslaver of a single person during the 1860
Census.

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