List of United States political families

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Three brothers from one of American political families: John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy, pictured together in July 1960. Kennedy bros.jpg
Three brothers from one of American political families: John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy, pictured together in July 1960.

Many families in the United States have produced multiple generations of politicians who have had a significant influence on government and public policy in their communities, states, and nationally.

Contents

In 2000, Newsweek magazine observed that there as many, if not more, Democratic political families as there were Republican "dynasties". [1]

Geographic distribution

Many of these families moved to national prominence from a single state or region, for example: the Huntingtons of Connecticut, the Longs of Louisiana, the Harrisons and Lees of Virginia, the Roosevelts of New York, the Daleys and the Stevensons of Illinois, the Muhlenbergs of Pennsylvania, the Tafts of Ohio, the Frelinghuysens of New Jersey, the Lodges of Massachusetts and the DuPonts of Delaware

The Adams family come prominently from Massachusetts and is one of the main political dynasties in United States history. It includes two presidents (the second and the sixth), a Secretary of the Navy, the ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Civil War and multiple other high profile functions.

Other families are or have been politically involved in multiple states. The Bush family includes two presidents (one a former Vice President, the other a former governor of Texas), a senator from Connecticut, and a governor of Florida.

The Kennedy family included a president, an attorney general, and a senator from Massachusetts in one generation. Other members have been elected to public office in New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and California.

Bill Clinton served as governor of Arkansas before being elected the 42nd president; his wife, Hillary Clinton, was elected as a senator from New York before serving as secretary of State.

Members of the Rockefeller family have been elected to public office in New York, West Virginia and Arkansas.

The Udall family first became prominent in Arizona, but three cousins from the most recent generation simultaneously served in the U.S. Senate from Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon.

Alphabetical list

See also

Related Research Articles

The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy became the first Kennedy elected to public office, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. At least one Kennedy family member served in federal elective office from 1947, when P. J. Kennedy's grandson John F. Kennedy became a member of Congress from Massachusetts, until 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy II retired as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island.

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John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is a retired American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Virginia (1977–1985). Rockefeller moved to Emmons, West Virginia, to serve as a VISTA worker in 1964 and was first elected to public office as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates (1966-1968). Rockefeller was later elected secretary of state of West Virginia (1968–1973) and was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College (1973–1975). He became the state's senior U.S. senator when the long-serving Senator Robert Byrd died in June 2010.

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References

  1. "The Family Business". Newsweek . Vol. 136, no. 8. August 21, 2000. p. 52. Retrieved 2024-02-29 via EBSCOHost.