George Bush's horse-thief ancestor-Fiction!

George Bush's Horse-Thief Ancestor-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
This email claims that Laura Bush, the wife of President George W. Bush, is into genealogy and discovered a great-great uncle in the Bush family who was hanged for stealing horses. When the president's image-makers were finished with the story, however, they had made the history of the great-great uncle sound like one about a terrific citizen and send it to the Associated Press.

The Truth:
This is not true just like it was not true about Al Gore or Hillary Rodham Clinton. The essence of this story is from an old piece of humorous writing that was designed to demonstrate how you can put "spin" on a negative story to make it sound positive. Someone altered the story to make it seem as though it was talking about an ancestor of Al Gore. Then another version got started saying it was about an ancestor of Bill Clinton. Now this version is making the rounds saying it is about George W. Bush. It also adds a new feature. The alleged relative's name is "Chad" and is called the first "hanging chad," a reference to the controversy over ballots in Florida from the 2000 presidential election.

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Subject: Little bit of history

Laura Bush, the new First Lady, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her husband's great-great uncle, Chadsworth Bush, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Texas in 1889.

The only known photograph of this rascal shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: "Chadsworth Bush, horse thief, sent to Texas prison in 1885,escaped 1887,robbed the Texas Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889."

After letting George W.Bush and his staff of professional image consultants peruse the findings, they decided to crop Chadworth's picture, scan it in an enlarged image, and edit it with image-processing software.

The following biographical sketch was sent to the Associated Press: "Chadsworth Bush was a famous rancher in early Texas history. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets, and he was involved in intimate dealings with the Texas railroad. Beginning in 1883,he devoted several years to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889,Chadsworth Bush passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."

Thus passed the very first "hanging Chad."