COLUMN: Here's the Obama travel report

Regarding Ms. Patrick’s Feb. 21 column. She need no longer be pained by reflecting upon how President Obama’s ancestors might have arrived in America — unless she is pained by the thought of people suffering from motion sickness. Here’s a bit of history.

The president’s earliest ancestor born on this continent was Jonathan Singletary Dunham in 1640. In those days, his ancestors would have crossed the Pacific on very small ships. It was not a pleasant experience, but they came of their own volition. According to Wikipedia, “Obama’s maternal heritage consists mostly of English ancestry, with much smaller amounts of German, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss and French ancestry.” Mr. Obama shares his ancestry with no fewer than six other U.S. presidents.

The president’s father appears to have been the first in his paternal lineage to come to the U.S. Barack Obama Sr. is said to have come here on an airplane, of his own volition, to attend an Ivy League university. There are no reports that he suffered from motion sickness. He later returned to Kenya and went to work for the government.

NORMA WHITE

Athol