 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Political families of the United States" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg)
Many families in theUnited States have produced multiple generations of politicians who have had a significant influence on government and public policy in their communities, states, and nationally.
Many of these families moved to national prominence from a single state or region, for example: theHuntingtons ofConnecticut, theLongs ofLouisiana, theHarrisons andLees ofVirginia, theRoosevelts ofNew York, theDaleys and theStevensons ofIllinois, theMuhlenbergs ofPennsylvania, theTafts ofOhio, theFrelinghuysens ofNew Jersey, theLodges ofMassachusetts and theDuPonts ofDelaware.
TheAdams family come prominently fromMassachusetts and is one of the main political dynasties in United States history. It includes two presidents (thesecond and thesixth),a Secretary of the Navy,an ambassador to theUnited Kingdom during theCivil War and multiple other high profile functions.
Other families are or have been politically involved in multiple states. TheBush family includes two presidents (one a former Vice President, theother a former governor of Texas),a senator from Connecticut, anda governor of Florida.
TheKennedy family includeda president,an attorney general,a senator from Massachusetts, andan ambassador to Ireland in a single generation. Other members have been elected to public office inNew York,Rhode Island,Connecticut,Maryland, andCalifornia, and served in appointed positions such asUnited States Secretary of Health and Human ServicesRobert F. Kennedy Jr. (2025-).
Members of theRockefeller family have been elected to public office inNew York,West Virginia andArkansas.
TheUdall family first became prominent inArizona, but three cousins from the most recent generation simultaneously served in the U.S. Senate fromColorado,New Mexico, andOregon.
In 2000,Newsweek magazine observed that there are as many, if not more, Democratic political families as there were Republican "dynasties".[1] This may be attributable to the Democratic Party being 26 years older than the Republican Party.[2]
