America's Political Dynasties / Edition 1

by Stephen Hess

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560009115
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	11/30/1996
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	786
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen Hess is senior fellow emeritus at the Brookings Institution. He worked on the staff of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, as well as an advisor to Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He is the author of America’s Political Dynasties, Organizing the Presidency and numerous other publications on journalism and politics.

Table of Contents

The Best Butter; The Adams Dynasty; The Lee Dynasty; The Livingston Dynasty; The Washburn Dynasty; The Muhlenberg Dynasty; The Roosevelt Dynasty; The Harrison Dynasty; The Breckinridge Dynasty; The Bayard Dynasty; The Taft Dynasty; The Frelinghuysen Dynasty; The Tucker Dynasty; The Stockton Dynasty; The Long Dynasty; The Lodge Dynasty; The Kennedy Dynasty

Editorial Reviews

"America's Political Dynasties is a unique and valuable contribution to the study of American political history." —Wisconsin Bookwatch

From the Publisher