For political dynasties in this country, good things come in twos. This means that two credible presidents (or presidential candidates) can emerge in one family, whether in one or in two generations, and from 8-28 years apart. Thus we have seen Presidents John and John Quincy Adams in 1796 and 1824; President John F. and candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1960 and 1968; and Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush in 1988 and in 2000 and 2004 (the younger George Bush being the one dynasty in history to be elected to and serve two full terms).

John Quincy’s son Charles Francis, an illustrious secretary of state in the Civil War era, was urged to run all his life but refused to do so, a model the Bushes and Kennedys would have done well to follow. That’s because when Jeb Bush and Ted Kennedy tried to play out the string for a third try at power, the results for themselves and their kin were not good.