America's Political DynastiesRoutledge, 2017 M07 5 - 786 pages This is the 30th anniversary edition of a book that was hailed on publication in 1966 as "fascinating" by Margaret L. Coit in the Saturday Review and as "masterly" by Henry F. Graff in the New York Times Book Review.The Constitution could not be more specific: "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States." Yet, in over two centuries since these words were written, the American people, despite official disapproval, have chosen a political nobility. For generation after generation they have turned for leadership to certain families. They are America's political dynasties. Now, in the twentieth century, surprisingly, American political life seems to be largely peopled by those who qualify, in Stewart Alsop's phrase, as "People's Dukes." They are all around us Kennedys, Longs, Tafts, Roosevelts.Here is the panorama of America's political dynasties from colonial days to the present in fascinating profiles of sixteen of the leading families. Some, like the Roosevelts, have shown remarkable staying power. Others are all but forgotten, such as the Washburns, a family in which four sons of a bankrupt shopkeeper were elected to Congress from four different states. America's Political Dynasties investigates the roles of these families in shaping the nation and traces the whole pattern of political inheritance, which has been a little considered but unique and significant feature of American government and diplomacy. And in doing so, it also illuminates the lives and personalities of some two hundred often engaging, usually ambitious, sometimes brilliant, occasionally unscrupulous individuals. |
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
The Lee Dynasty | 49 |
The Livingston Dynasty | 83 |
The Washburn Dynasty | 123 |
The Muhlenberg Dynasty | 145 |
The Roosevelt Dynasty | 167 |
The Harrison Dynasty | 217 |
The Stockton Dynasty | 393 |
The Long Dynasty | 417 |
The Lodge Dynasty | 445 |
The Kennedy Dynasty | 481 |
NOTES | 529 |
PUBLIC OFFICES HELD BY POLITICAL DYNASTIES | 623 |
FAMILIES WITH THREE OR MORE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS | 645 |
DYNASTIC MEMBERS SINCE 1966 | 673 |
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Common terms and phrases
Adamses American appointed Attorney Bayard became Benjamin Harrison Beverley Biography Bob Taft Boston Boudinot Breckinridge brother campaign candidate career Charles Francis Adams College congressman Continental Congress Court cousin daughter defeated Delaware Delegates Democratic died Earl editor elected father Franklin Frederick Frelinghuysen George Tucker governor grandfather grandson Henry Adams Henry Cabot Lodge Hiester History House of Representatives Huey husband Ibid James Jefferson Jersey John Adams John Davis Lodge John Quincy Adams Joseph Kennedy Kentucky later legislature Livingston Long Louisiana married Mary Maryland Massachusetts mayor Muhlenberg nephew never nomination North Carolina Ohio party Pennsylvania Peter Philadelphia Philip political dynasty Post President presidential Princeton Quoted Republican Richard Robert Samuel Secretary Smith sons Stockton Theodore Roosevelt Thomas told U. S. House U. S. Senate U.S. minister United States Senate Virginia vote Washburn Washington White House wife William Howard Taft wrote York young