Stephen Hess: America's Top Dynasty?
[Stephen Hess, a senior fellow emeritus at the Brookings Institution, was on the Eisenhower and Nixon White House staffs and advised Presidents Ford and Carter. He is the author of "America's Political Dynasties" and his most recent book is "What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect." ]
American public life is saturated with them. Kennedys. Bushes. Clintons. Powerful individuals connected to one another by blood or by marriage who, deservedly or not, take on that most paradoxical of American labels: dynasty.
The passing in August of Sen. Ted Kennedy -- and his nephew Joseph Kennedy's decision last week not to run for the vacant seat -- set off debates over whether the "Kennedy dynasty" was over, and whether the family embodied the last and greatest dynasty in American politics.
But just glance at today's Senate and count those whose parents were once members of Congress, or governors, or in a presidential Cabinet, and you'll see potential dynasties in training: Evan Bayh, Bob Bennett, Bob Casey, Chris Dodd, Judd Gregg, Mary Landrieu, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Pryor, the cousins Mark and Tom Udall; add Jay Rockefeller, nephew of a vice president.
The Constitution states that "no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States," yet it seems political nobility is as American as apple pie.
But were the Kennedys truly the greatest dynasty our nation has seen? What about the Bush or Roosevelt families? The Adamses? The Rockefellers? The Tafts? When The Washington Post's Outlook section asked me to devise a ranking of America's dynasties, an honor roll of political families, it sounded like an irresistible exercise.
My infatuation with political dynasties began in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1957, when, as a bored private in a peacetime army, I wandered into a library and discovered the "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress." Who were these Bayards, Muhlenbergs and Frelinghuysens, I wondered, with five or six names apiece in the directory? I counted 700 families in which two or more members had served in Congress. I eventually explored these questions in a book, "America's Political Dynasties," published more than four decades ago.
Since then, what has fascinated me most is the constant shifts in America's dynastic politics, with new families emerging and older ones leaving the field of combat. For instance, I didn't include the Bush family in my first book because, well, there was no Bush dynasty in 1966 -- just one former backbench senator from Connecticut. But what happened to the Stocktons, Tuckers, Lees and Livingstons?
While the study of dynasties necessarily looks back into history, it also reflects new forces in American politics, such as the rising roles of women and ethnic and racial minorities. Once a woman's route to Congress was through widowhood or, in the classic title of Diane Blair's learned article, "Over His Dead Body." Today House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has far exceeded the congressional career of her father. Now we see the Sanchez sisters, Loretta and Linda, daughters of Mexican immigrants, representing California districts in the House; and the Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario, sons of a Cuban politician, representing Florida districts. ...
[HNN: Mr. Hess goes on to provide a weighted system by which he ranks Americas's dynasties. First, turns out to be, the Kennedys.]
Read entire article at WaPo
American public life is saturated with them. Kennedys. Bushes. Clintons. Powerful individuals connected to one another by blood or by marriage who, deservedly or not, take on that most paradoxical of American labels: dynasty.
The passing in August of Sen. Ted Kennedy -- and his nephew Joseph Kennedy's decision last week not to run for the vacant seat -- set off debates over whether the "Kennedy dynasty" was over, and whether the family embodied the last and greatest dynasty in American politics.
But just glance at today's Senate and count those whose parents were once members of Congress, or governors, or in a presidential Cabinet, and you'll see potential dynasties in training: Evan Bayh, Bob Bennett, Bob Casey, Chris Dodd, Judd Gregg, Mary Landrieu, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Pryor, the cousins Mark and Tom Udall; add Jay Rockefeller, nephew of a vice president.
The Constitution states that "no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States," yet it seems political nobility is as American as apple pie.
But were the Kennedys truly the greatest dynasty our nation has seen? What about the Bush or Roosevelt families? The Adamses? The Rockefellers? The Tafts? When The Washington Post's Outlook section asked me to devise a ranking of America's dynasties, an honor roll of political families, it sounded like an irresistible exercise.
My infatuation with political dynasties began in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1957, when, as a bored private in a peacetime army, I wandered into a library and discovered the "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress." Who were these Bayards, Muhlenbergs and Frelinghuysens, I wondered, with five or six names apiece in the directory? I counted 700 families in which two or more members had served in Congress. I eventually explored these questions in a book, "America's Political Dynasties," published more than four decades ago.
Since then, what has fascinated me most is the constant shifts in America's dynastic politics, with new families emerging and older ones leaving the field of combat. For instance, I didn't include the Bush family in my first book because, well, there was no Bush dynasty in 1966 -- just one former backbench senator from Connecticut. But what happened to the Stocktons, Tuckers, Lees and Livingstons?
While the study of dynasties necessarily looks back into history, it also reflects new forces in American politics, such as the rising roles of women and ethnic and racial minorities. Once a woman's route to Congress was through widowhood or, in the classic title of Diane Blair's learned article, "Over His Dead Body." Today House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has far exceeded the congressional career of her father. Now we see the Sanchez sisters, Loretta and Linda, daughters of Mexican immigrants, representing California districts in the House; and the Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario, sons of a Cuban politician, representing Florida districts. ...
[HNN: Mr. Hess goes on to provide a weighted system by which he ranks Americas's dynasties. First, turns out to be, the Kennedys.]