Why do you say that he comes from a privileged background? Like the poster above said, millions of Americans are descended from the Mayflower (although I'm not sure it is as high as 50M). One of my ancestors was born in Plymouth in 1623 and I don't have a privileged background. We were middle-middle class, and my parents were at most a step higher than their parents had been. When the late John Chaffee was Senator from Rhode Island, he once said he was a descendent of Roger Williams, seeming to imply that he held office almost by birthright. A reporter responded in print saying probably half of the people in Rhode Island could claim descent from Roger Williams. I too can claim such descent but live in Georgia.