Monday's Chicago Tribune had a nicely fleshed-out article on Michelle Obama's ancestry. After reading which, UPI chose this as their headline:
I would guess that every first lady in the history of the United States has had an illiterate ancestor (if not an illiterate husband). At least Michelle's great-great-grandfather had a good excuse.Census records show the woman who will soon become first lady of the United States is the great-great granddaughter of an illiterate South Carolina slave. [Link]
Thanks for posting this, I had missed that story! It's hard to imagine what led them to create that headline. But I'm inspired, I'm working on a post in my genie blog about my own illiterate ancestor, my mom's grandfather who she lived with until he died when she was 6.