Author: Steve Sailer
Publication: UPI
Date: December 7, 2000
It's been a good week
for America's growing assortment of political dynasties.
The governor of Missouri
appointed Jean Carnahan to fill the U.S. Senate seat won on Nov.
7 by her late husband Mel Carnahan. First lady Hillary Clinton drew
hordes of photographers when she showed up on Capitol Hill to undergo the
orientation for new senators. George W. Bush -- grandson of
a senator, brother of a governor, and son of a president -- moved closer
to the White House. Even Congresswoman Mary Bono, the widow of singer/politician
Sonny Bono, was being mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for
governor of California.
One might think that
dynasties would have disappeared along with hereditary monarchies.
Of course, the urge to found a dynasty still lives on in these democratic
times. More surprisingly, however, the public seems to increasingly
want their leaders to be members of famous families and clans. Why?
This urge is not restricted
to the United States alone. It's vividly alive in a broad swath of
southern Asia, running from Pakistan, through India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia
and to the Philippines. In each, voters have chosen widows or daughters
to carry on from their deceased men folk the family business of running
the country.
Most of these women entered
politics to avenge their husband's or father's removal or murder by right-wingers.
For example, Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines following
her husband's assassination by dictator Ferdinand Marcos's goon squad.
Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of Pakistan after the downfall of
Gen. Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq, who had overthrown and hanged her father.
Indonesian Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who shares many duties
with the ailing president, is the daughter of former leftist ruler Sukarno.
Her father was himself overthrown by Gen. Suharto in 1965.
That former strongman is now awaiting trial by Megawati's government on
corruption charges.
Our current vice president
and Democratic hopeful for the presidency is himself the son of a senator.
If Vice President Al Gore loses, perhaps one day his daughter, Karenna
Gore Schiff, might follow these precedents and run for president to vindicate
her father's memory.
Likewise for the candidate
on the other side of the political divide. George W. Bush is
the son of a former president bearing the same name, except for the middle
initial. His brother Jeb is the governor of Florida, the state that
has thrown the monkey wrench into the 2000 presidential election.
In India, the once-dominant
Congress Party is increasingly pinning its hopes on young Priyanka Gandhi.
This 29-year-old, half-Italian woman is a direct descendent of three Indian
prime ministers. She appears the best hope of extending the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty that began when her great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru became independent
India's first prime minister in 1947.
That's because her mother
Sonia Gandhi, widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has lost
popularity after leading Congress to merely a second- place finish in the
recent election. Runner-up is considered a disgraceful performance
for anyone bearing the magic name of "Gandhi."
The high hopes invested
in Sonia were testimony to the glamour of the dynasty. Without the
Gandhi name, Sonia -- a Roman Catholic Italian who comes from the area
around Turin, and doesn't speak a single Indian language terribly well
-- would have been just about the least likely person to become head of
a major Indian party.
Hereditary monarchy would
not have been so popular for so long if it did not offer at least some
advantages to the ruled. The common folk benefit because the opportunity
to pass their dominions down to their offspring, encourages their rulers
to think about the long term.
Rather than laying waste
to their realms, the dynastic system gives kings incentive to cultivate
their realms so their children can inherit a prosperous and content land.
Dynasts are particularly
inclined to build impressive civic monuments. Consider Chicago, where
popular Mayor Richard M. Daley is halfway to equaling his legendary
father Richard J. Daley's six terms. When Daleys are not in
power, tax dollars in Chicago often disappear into well-connected pockets
without leaving a trace. In contrast, Hizzoner Richard II has seen
to it that at least some of public's money gets spent on a long list of
beautification projects inspired by his visits to Paris and other regal
cities.
If future generations
of Daleys wish to run for mayor, these elegant works will serve to remind
voters of the benevolent splendor of the name "Daley."
One problem with dynasties,
though, is that they generally decline in talent and energy over the generations.
On the other hand, they can simultaneously grow in popularity. That's
because later generations are often kinder and more public-spirited than
their hungry and ruthless self-made ancestors.
For example, the Kennedy
line declined in vigor and ambition from Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
to John Kennedy Jr. Yet, it also grew in graciousness.
Finally, political dynasties
are popular because they are so interesting to follow. In Evelyn
Waugh's classic 1937 novel "Scoop," the fictional country of Ishmaelia
had been run for three generation by the Jackson clan. Then, in one
busy day, the Jacksons are overthrown and immediately restored in a counter-coup.
The assembled Ishmaelite crowds cheer both events equally.
"They had been agreeably
surprised to learn that the Jacksons had that morning all been sent to
prison; now, it would be a treat to see them all again. As long as
something, good or ill, was happening to the Jacksons, the Ishmaelites
felt an intelligent interest in politics."
The same is true in the
United States. For four decades, something -- good or ill -- has
always been happening to the Kennedys. Following their fortunes has
been far more compelling than reading up on Social Security reform.
Similarly, Bill and Hillary
Clinton have allowed Americans, under the guise of maintaining an intelligent
interest in presidential politics, to indulge in the guilty pleasures associated
with watching "The Jerry Springer Show."
Still, for pure entertainment
value, our political dynasties have yet to match Pakistan's Bhutto family
for lurid dysfunctionality. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's own mother
actively opposed her being prime minister. This matriarch of Pakistan's
richest feudal landowning family publicly argued that Benazir's erratic
brother Murtaza, should have inherited the job instead.
Murtaza eventually left
his sister's party and began denouncing her for corruption. Finally,
in 1996, Murtaza died in a gun battle with police forces ultimately reporting
to his sister.
