So that's where his political integrity comes from! George Clooney, the Oscar winning actor and noted Democrat, is a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln, considered the greatest president in the history of the United States. According to Ancestry.com, The Descendants star is the half-cousin five times removed from Lincoln.

The genealogy website explains the connection in detail, noting that "half" means two of their ancestors were half siblings. Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks was the half-sister of Clooney's 4th great-grandmother Mary Ann Sparrow. Hanks and Sparrow shared the same mother, Lucy, who was Lincoln's maternal grandmother. Clooney has long been associated with political activism and recently hosted a Democratic Party fundraiser at his Los Angeles home, raising $15 million for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. He was arrested in Washington this year during a protest at the Sudanese Embassy.

Lincoln, a Republican, led his country through the Civil War and is credited with abolishing slavery, which became law following his death in 1865. He is the subject of Steven Spielberg's new biopic, which is likely to win Daniel Day Lewis yet another Oscar. Ahead of the movie's release, ancestry.com is offering free access to more than 20,000 documents showcasing Lincoln's life.