Nepotism president

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A nepotism president is one who was selected by their party mainly on the grounds of their family name, regardless of their actual merit for the job. If they are then appointed to the job while contested ballots are being counted by a Supreme Court loaded with several appointees of their family, friends, and former employers, that seals the case.

Examples

General and ancient

• Monarchy (where all pretence is cast aside).
• The Julio-Claudian dynasty of Roman emperors begun by Augustus Caesar who styled himself as simply "the first among equals" and kept up the facade of republicanism in the Roman Empire.
• Even when England briefly abolished its monarchy, Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard.

The United States

• The Addams Family Adams family: John Quincy Adams.
• The Harrisons: Benjamin Harrison.
• The Dead Kennedys Kennedys: John F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy Ted Kennedy Any Kennedy (plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger).
• The Bushes: George W. Bush (Jeb Bush tried, but failed).
• The Browns in California - Governor Moonbeam served four full terms, after his father already served two terms from 1959 to 1967
• Andrew Cuomo became governor after his father, Mario Cuomo
• Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump serve as senior advising officials for Donald Trump

In addition, there are several US political dynasties that have produced presidents but are less clear-cut examples, e.g. the Tafts (William Howard Taft and Robert A. Taft) and the Roosevelts (Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, distant cousins of each other, and Eleanor Roosevelt first cousin of the former and distant cousin/wife of the latter).

The rest of the world

• Canada: The Trudeaus (Justin Trudeau).
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Kabilas (Joseph Kabila).
• Haiti: The Duvaliers (François and Jean-Claude).
• India: The Nehru/Gandhi dynasty (Indira, Rajiv, and Sonia Gandhi who are all related to Jawaharlal Nehru, an important man himself, being prime-minister of India and all, but not the "real" Gandhi).
• Indonesia: Founding president and darling of the Non-Aligned Movement Sukarno is the father of Indonesia's first woman president Megawati Sukarnoputri. There was a 34 year gap. As vice-president, she became president after President Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached and only served the remaining term, as she did not win re-election.
• Malaysia: Former Prime Minister Najib Razak is the son of Malaysia's second and nephew of the third.
• Nicaragua: The Somozas (Anastasio Somoza García (father), Luis Somoza Debayle (older son) and Anastasio Somoza Debayle (younger son) were all presidents/leaders of the national guard/unelected strongmen and de facto dictators of Nicaragua 1936-1979 and were pretty influential behind the scenes as early as the 1920s).
• North Korea: The Kims (Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un).
• Pakistan: The Bhuttos (Benazir Bhutto and her husband Mr Ten Percent Asif Ali Zardari).
• Peru: imprisoned former dictator Alberto Fujimori and almost-president Keiko Fujimori, both are "Fujimoristas"
• The Philippines: The Aquinos (Corazon Aquino).
• Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew led Singapore forever before his son Lee Hsien Loong took the reins. There was a place holder in between though.
• Sri Lanka: The first prime minister, Don Stephen Senanayake, was succeeded by his son Dudley Senanayake.
• Syria: The Assads (Bashar al-Assad).
• Togo: Faure Gnassingbé, son of Gnassingbé Eyadéma. (Interestingly enough, long-time opposition head Gilchrist Olympio is also the son of first president Sylvanus Olympio.)
• United Kingdom: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, whose father Joseph and uncle Austen both held important ministerial roles (ironically, Neville is now considered one of history's greatest villains for his appeasement policy). Hilary Benn, Stephen Kinnock, and Winston Churchill's grandson Nicholas Soames are other, more modest examples of hereditary legislators.

Similar concept: Wives and widows

In many parts of the world, particularly the Americas, wives of popular or powerful politicians often run for office in their own right, either to circumvent term limits or as a "substitute" for the dead man himself, if he died. Examples include:

• Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — widow of former President Néstor Kirchner, started her first term while her husband was alive though term limited (Argentina)
• Alabama: Lurleen Wallace, George Wallace's wife, was governor when her husband ran up against a prohibition on serving consecutive terms as governor.
• The above mentioned Corazon Aquino was mostly elected as a "replacement" for her murdered husband
• Violeta Barrios de Chamorro — President of Nicaragua, 1990-1996; widow of popular journalist Pedro Joaquín Chamorro who was assassinated in 1978
• Isabel Martínez de Perón — third wife and widow of Juan Perón of Argentina, who was president before the shit really hit the fan
• Hillary Clinton — attempted on several occasions to serve as POTUS, but ultimately could not find the support or cohesive political platform to succeed

Getting it wrong

Our dear friends at Conservapedia, headed by Saint Schlafly, perhaps miffed about Dubya getting slapped with the nepotism label, decided to get back at the lib'ruls by calling Barack Obama an Affirmative action President.

See also

• Nepotist president

References

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