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  • America's Political Dynasties: From Adams to Clinton
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  • Stephen Hess
  • 2015
  • Published by: Brookings Institution Press
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summary

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.

America was founded in rebellion against nobility and inherited status. Yet from the start, dynastic families have been conspicuous in national politics. The Adamses. The Lodges. The Tafts. The Roosevelts. The Kennedys. And today the Bushes and the Clintons.

Longtime presidential historian Stephen Hess offers an encyclopedic tour of the families that have loomed large over America's political history.

Starting with John Adams, who served as the young nation's first vice president and earned the nickname "His Rotundity," Hess paints the portraits of the men and women who, by coincidence, connivance, or sheer sense of duty, have made up America's political elite. There are the well-known dynasties such as the Roosevelts and the Kennedys, and the names that live on only in history books, such as the Bayards (six generations of U.S. senators) and the Breckinridges (a vice president, two senators, and six representatives).

Hess fills the pages of America's Political Dynasties with anecdotes and personality-filled stories of the families who have given the United States more than a fair share of its presidents, senators, governors, ambassadors, and cabinet members.

This book also tells us the stories of the Bushes and what looks to be a political dynasty in waiting, the Clintons. Emblematic of America's growing diversity, Hess also examines how women, along with ethnic and racial minorities, have joined the ranks of dynastic political families.

Table of Contents

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  1. Front Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. pp. vii-ix
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  1. Acknowlegdments
  2. Stephen Hess
  3. pp. xi-xii
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  1. 1 The Dynastic Impulse
  2. pp. 1-10
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  1. 2 The Adams Dynasty
  2. pp. 11-50
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  1. 3 The Lee Dynasty
  2. pp. 51-84
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  1. 4 The Livingston Dynasty
  2. pp. 85-130
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  1. 5 The Washburn Dynasty
  2. pp. 131-152
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  1. 6 The Muhlenberg Dynasty
  2. pp. 153-174
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  1. 7 The Roosevelt Dynasty
  2. pp. 175-222
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  1. 8 The Harrison Dynasty
  2. pp. 223-248
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  1. 9 The Breckinridge Dynasty
  2. pp. 249-280
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  1. 10 The Bayard Dynasty
  2. pp. 281-306
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  1. 11 The Taft Dynasty
  2. pp. 307-348
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  1. 12 The Frelinghuysen Dynasty
  2. pp. 349-374
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  1. 13 The Tucker Dynasty
  2. pp. 375-402
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  1. 14 The Stockton Dynasty
  2. pp. 403-426
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  1. 15 The Long Dynasty
  2. pp. 427-454
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  1. 16 The Lodge Dynasty
  2. pp. 455-492
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  1. 17 The Kennedy Dynasty
  2. pp. 493-544
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  1. 18 The Bush Dynasty
  2. pp. 545-572
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  1. 19 The Clinton Dynasty
  2. pp. 573-594
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  1. Epilogue: Ending in Mid-Sentence
  2. pp. 595-598
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 599-696
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  1. Appendix: Notable American Political Families
  2. pp. 697-732
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 733-760
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  1. Back Flap / Back Cover
  2. pp. 761-762
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