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.

Background[edit]

General and ancient[edit]

Similar concept: Wives and widows[edit]

In many parts of the world, particularly the Americas, wives of popular or powerful politicians often run for office in their own right. This can be done either to circumvent term limits, or as a "substitute" for her husband if he died (this later called widow's successionWikipedia). Examples include:

  • Cristina Fernández de[note 2] Kirchner — widow of former President Néstor Kirchner, started her first term while her husband was alive (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 below 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[note 3] 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 — wife of Bill Clinton. Attempted on several occasions to serve as POTUS, most notably becoming the Democratic nominee in 2016, but ultimately could not find the support or cohesive political platform to succeed. Was however elected senator for New York (serving eight years), until being chosen as secretary of state by Barack Obama (serving four years).

Getting it wrong[edit]

Our dear friends at Conservapedia, headed by Saint Schlafly,[note 4] 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.

Examples[edit]

The United States[edit]

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

Asia[edit]

The rest of the world[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. See the Wikipedia article on Commonwealth of England.
  2. "de" literally meaning "of" is the usual suffix between maiden name and married name in Latin America, in North American parlance she would be Cristina Kirchner (née Fernández)
  3. Either on Somoza's orders, or by people believing to do him a favor or by agents provocateurs
  4. What? Who said Phyllis?
  5. He ran for a third after promising not to do so, which got him a close primary and a general election loss against one R. Wilson Reagan, a middling actor and union leader past his prime