成敗之間話裙帶——亞當-貝婁談美國「太子黨」

成敗之間話裙帶——亞當-貝婁談美國「太子黨」譯自2003年8月25日美國《標準周刊》（第8卷47期）作者 諾米-艾墨瑞（Noemie Emery）譯者 鄭小峰（芝加哥）（zheng_xiaofeng@hotmail.com）校者 田方萌（北京）（tianfm@sina.com）

光明觀察編者按：這篇文章是作者為《說說裙帶關係的好話》一書所作的書評。原題為《Two Cheers for Nepotism》，可直譯作"為裙帶關係兩度舉杯"，其實有點"成也蕭何，敗也蕭何"的意思，因此校者試譯為更加漢化的"成敗之間話裙帶"。就文章內容看，還可以換上一個很戲謔的標題——"閑談美國太子黨"。精英階層的裙帶關係可能在任何等級社會都不鮮見，此所謂"弓人之子長為弓"。不過，現代民主社會和世襲專制社會下的裙帶關係乍看相似，兩者的實現機制還是很不一樣的。首發於光明觀察，轉載請註明譯者及出處；本譯文僅供參考，引用請查對原文。《說說裙帶關係的好話》（In Praise of Nepotism），亞當-貝婁著，Doubleday出版社，576頁，30美元當代美國社會的裙帶關係可能在2001年11月20日達到了頂峰。當天，美國司法部大樓被冠以"羅伯特-F-肯尼迪"（Robert-F-Kennedy，見注1）的大名。肯尼迪生前的朋友、親戚和現任總統都出席了命名儀式。這個儀式稱得上是美國政壇特權家族的盛會。到場的嘉賓包括下列諸位。美國總統喬治-W-布希（George-W-Bush），他是前總統喬治-H-W-布希（注2）之子，佛羅里達州州長吉布-布希（Jeb Bush）之兄；參議員愛德華-M-肯尼迪（Edward-M-Kennedy），他是羅伯特-肯尼迪和約翰-肯尼迪（注3）之弟，羅得島眾議員帕特里克-肯尼迪（Patrick Kennedy）之父；還有羅伯特-肯尼迪的眾多子女，包括一度被認為是政界高位熱門人選的前眾議員約瑟夫-P-肯尼迪II（Joseph P Kennedy II），和時任馬里蘭州副州長，並很有希望入駐州長官邸的凱瑟琳-肯尼迪-湯珊德（ Kathleen Kennedy Townsend，注4）。約瑟夫-肯尼迪對嘉賓們朗聲引述了他父親的原話，講羅伯特-肯尼迪如何能在35歲之年就升任司法部長："我努力工作，雄心勃勃，孜孜不倦地學習，全身心地投入，這時我哥哥當選了總統。"大家都笑了，這個笑話讓他們聯想到一項事實，那就是如果沒有和兩位前總統——喬治-H-W-布希和約翰-肯尼迪——攀上親戚，他們所有人都不可能呆在那在地方。而老布希和肯尼迪這兩位前總統也都擁有尊貴的父親，他們的老爸或是非常富有，或與百萬富翁過叢甚密，而且都擔任政府要職。小布希在總統競選中險勝小艾伯特-戈爾（Albert Gore Jr.），後者的父親（與兒子同名——譯者注）曾是傑出的田納西州參議員，他從出生起就致力於把小戈爾培養成總統，並讓他繼承了自己在參眾兩院的席位。小布希一朝權在手，就開始把一些可以任命的職位和差事分配給了布希拓展了的政治家族中的成員：副總統理查德-切尼的女兒伊麗莎白-切尼（Elizabeth Cheney）被任命為國務院副助理秘書，國務卿柯林-鮑威爾的兒子麥克爾-鮑威爾（Michael Powell）則就任聯邦通訊委員會（FCC）主席。這種好運並不局限於布希和肯尼迪家族。在2002年，伊麗莎白-多爾（Elizabeth Dole）也和希拉利-柯林頓（Hillary Clinton）一樣成為參議員，她們的芳名早已在其夫競選總統時就已家喻戶曉（注5）。在國會中，除了多爾夫人和柯林頓夫人，還有一大堆知名政界人物的夫人、遺孀、子女和兄弟姐妹，比如說埃文-貝（Evan Bayh，參議員之子），瑪麗-蘭君爾（Mary Landrieu，新奧爾良市市長之女），約翰-桑努努（John Sununu，前新漢普郡參議員之子），眾議院少數黨領袖南希-派洛斯（Nancy Pelosi，其父連任五屆巴爾的摩眾議員），和正平步青雲的赫諾德-福特（Harold Ford Jr），他已經接了父親在眾議院的班。如果說政治都是相對而言的——或者政界的每個人都是某某人的親戚（「相對」和「親戚」在英語中均為"relative"，作者在此用了雙關語——譯者注）——其他行當的情況也不例外：在戲劇界，瑞德戈里夫（Redgrave）家族名角輩出，現在已經傳到了第三代；在出版界，《紐約時報》和《華盛頓郵報》的經營者都是創始人的孫輩；警察和消防員等職業常常也是代代相傳的。當然，這些裙帶關係對亞當-貝婁來說都不是什麼新鮮事，他本人就是小說家索爾-貝婁（Saul Bellow）之子。還有很多作家的孩子追隨父親開始了自己的寫作生涯，即便他們不是全去爬了格子。貝婁認為父親為他打開了創作之門（如果不是硬把他拉到作家隊伍里），而且一點也不覺得這種子承父業的事情有什麼不妥。事實上，他還以此為主題寫了整整一本書（《說說裙帶關係的好處》）。"裙帶關係"一詞源於拉丁語"nepote"，它在14世紀被人們創造出來，用於描述將私生子安排到文職高位的通例。數百年來裙帶關係盛行於世襲等級社會，但它在美國遇到了阻力，因為它與人人平等、共和政府，以及崇拜自我創業等價值觀相抵觸。使裙帶關係與這些價值觀和睦共處從來都不大容易。貝婁寫道："在建國初期，美國人對裙帶關係的態度是很令人費解的。"托馬斯-傑弗遜（Thomas Jefferson，注6）生於豪門望族，他的家族在合眾國等級最為分明的州中勢力最為龐大，可傑弗遜卻為發展有關群眾組織和准民粹主義競選活動（quasi-populist campaigning）的政治藝術作出了自己的貢獻。他理所當然地繼承了自己祖上的社會地位，不像喬治-華盛頓那樣誕生於一位小農場主的第二次婚姻，從而不得不藉助拓展家族成員的親戚網路而獲得晉陞的機會。約翰-亞當斯（注7）開創了共和國家的世襲先例，他公開地提攜了他的幾個兒子。有兩個兒子沒能承受住那種緊張的生活，但長子約翰-昆西-亞當斯（John Quincy Adam，注8）"接受了命運的安排"，從孩提時就開始面對巨大的壓力，此後再也沒有擺脫它。約翰11歲時作為父親的秘書與他一道前往法國；14歲作為美國使者的秘書（沒有父親陪同）遠赴俄國；15和16歲時，他作為美國停戰（注9）代表團的秘書被派往海牙和巴黎；1786年，老亞當斯出任美國駐英國聖詹姆斯王朝（Court of St. James）的大使後，他再一次成為父親的秘書。1794年，約翰27歲時被華盛頓總統委任為美國駐荷蘭大使——他的仕途終於真正開始了，這時他父親已身為副總統。30年過去了，在歷任國務卿和駐俄、駐英大使之後，昆西-亞當斯終於追隨父親，在1824年成為美國歷史上第6位總統。但是很不幸，這位"子繼父位"的第一人遭遇的對手乃是安德魯-傑克遜（，注11）——美國政治史上第一位出身貧寒而成功崛起的人物。傑克遜攻擊了亞當斯的家庭出身："亞當斯被描述為徹底脫離群眾的人，他從未誠實地工作過，還鄙視老百姓。……他的家庭被諷刺為『布瑞退議院『（the House of Braintree，布瑞退是亞當斯家庭所在的地方，House一語雙關——譯者注），他父親被諷刺為『約翰一世皇帝『（King John the First）。"傑克遜首創的這種攻擊對手顯赫出身的做法在以後的歷史中經久不衰。西奧多-羅斯福（Theodore Roosevelt，注11）年僅23歲就被選為紐約州議會最年輕的議員，這完全是靠他父親——一位紐約著名慈善家——的聲望。紐約人對西奧多的父親幾乎到了頂禮膜拜的地步。《紐約郵報》評論道："羅斯福先生以他的血統完全有資格獲得紐約選民的信任與期望，因為他父親在世時每一天都在為公眾提供著最有力的幫助。"後來，泰迪（Teddy，西奧多-羅斯福的昵稱——譯者注）的大名又為弗蘭克林-羅斯福（Franklin Roosevelt，注12）的政治生涯提供了火箭燃料般的助力，而後者正是前者的五代堂弟（既兩者高祖為同一人，實為遠親——譯者注）。弗蘭克林-羅斯福以這位前總統為榜樣，得到了他的幫助，娶了他的侄女，還按照西奧多的人生軌跡規划了自己的職業生涯。貝婁引用了斯蒂芬-海斯（Stephen Hess，注14）的評價："公眾認為弗蘭克林-羅斯福是西奧多-羅斯福總統的兒子或侄子，弗蘭克林根本沒有試圖糾正這種錯誤印象。"貝婁認為弗蘭克林-羅斯福是靠與泰迪-羅斯福的裙帶聯繫（coattail connection）才在1920年被指定為副總統候選人的，這段經歷是弗蘭克林政治生涯中的里程碑。當時他經常聽到人們對他喊："我投了你父親一票！"當弗蘭克林-羅斯福競選總統時，他的支持者中有一位名為約瑟夫-P-肯尼迪（Joseph P Kennedy）的金融家。約瑟夫有九個孩子，他畢生都在為他們的前途奔忙，以致於將裙帶關係發展到了前所未有的驚人程度。懷著4個兒子都入步入政界的夢想，約瑟夫花了29年時間培養長子小約瑟夫-肯尼迪（Joseph Kennedy，Jr.，注14），希望他以後能成為美國總統。接著他又堅持讓次子約翰繼承其兄長未盡的事業。約翰-肯尼迪在他擔任參議員和總統期間與另外兩位參議員結識並共事過，一位是來自康涅迪格州的布萊斯考特-布希（Prescott Bush），另一位是來自田納西州的阿爾伯特-戈爾（Albert Gore）。1962年布萊斯考特-布希退休時，他的次子喬治-H-W-布希正準備競選德克薩斯州的議席，並夢想有一天能成為總統。同時，戈兒也抱有競選總統的雄心，不僅為他自己，也為孩子。從兒子小艾伯特出生開始，戈兒就把他當作未來的總統培養。學校的同學們給小艾伯特取了個綽號叫"艾爾王子"（Prince Al，Al系艾伯特之昵稱 ——譯者注）。小艾伯特出生的消息上了田納西州當地報紙的頭版；6歲時他已經作為培訓中的政治家而受到歡迎；28歲時他繼承了老戈兒在眾議院的席位，並在36歲之年一躍成為參議員。不到40歲，小艾伯特就應父親的要求參加了一次總統競選。4年後，作為副總統候選人，他與比爾-柯林頓一道擊敗了競選連任的喬治-H-W-布希。又過了8年，如他父親終生所願，小艾伯特終於開始競選美國總統。在那場被稱為王侯之爭（a battle of dynasts）的選戰中，他輸給了老布希的長子喬治（即小布希——譯者注）。是不是名門之後總能成功呢？不見得。出乎中學和大學時代熟人們的意料，喬治-W-布希和約翰-肯尼迪早年都被看作是各自家門中的浪蕩公子（cut-ups，原意為胡鬧的人——譯者注），兩人後來卻具備了熟練的政治手腕和真正的領袖素質。但艾爾-戈爾即使在從政二三十年後仍未發揮出這種這種本能。凱瑟琳-格雷厄姆（Katharine Graham，注15）拯救了《華盛頓郵報》；但在路易斯維爾（Louisville），丁漢姆（Bingham）家族的媒體王國卻被其繼承人分割為碎片。至於西奧多-羅斯福的四個兒子，還有弗蘭克林-羅斯福和埃莉諾-羅斯福（Eleanor）所生的四個兒子，他們中間沒有哪位在政界大有作為。約瑟夫-P-肯尼迪在世的孫子和孫女共有26人。即便擁有泉涌般的錢財、好萊塢明星的光環、媒體不斷的關注以及金錢和愛情所能買到的最佳顧問，他們中也沒有哪一位能夠成為傑出的政治人物。2000年（因艾爾-戈爾）和2002年，由於任用了兩位靠家族背景開始起職業生涯的名門子弟，民主黨在選舉中遭受了重大挫折。在更公開的場合進行激烈的競選中，這兩位候選人根本不具有競爭力，因為那裡家族背景的因素被大大削弱了：馬里蘭州的民主黨人為自己的決定後悔不已，他們不該迫使巴爾的摩市市長退出州長預選，而為凱瑟琳-肯尼迪-湯山德（Kathleen Kennedy Townsend ）讓出位子。寫作本文的時候，肯尼迪家族第三代中唯一一位身居要職的人是一個表現平平的國會議員，當年為了首次當選羅得島州議員，他平均為每張選票花了73美元。這也許說明裙帶關係和價值理念之間的衝突並不像看上去那麼劇烈。西奧多-羅斯福靠他老爸起家，但後來他本人也建立了活躍有力的政治形象。弗蘭克林-羅斯福利用他表哥躍入龍門，但很快也樹立了自己獨特的風格。政壇上一度風光的肯尼迪三兄弟明顯各不相同，他們不僅有別於父親，彼此之間也各具風采，其政治追求、個人風格以及支持者都不一樣。作為政治家，喬治-W-布希也不同於他的父親和祖父。和約翰-肯尼迪一樣，他反對那些他認為是父親做錯的地方。正如貝婁指出的，泰德-肯尼迪（愛德華-肯尼迪的昵稱——譯者注）憑藉他的姓氏邁進參議院的大門，但他依靠自己的才能在那裡呆了40年，並成為舉足輕重的人物。相比之下，肯尼迪家族的下一代由於沒能扮演富有魅力的角色而紛紛落馬。要想成功，名門之後必須脫離家族的背景，重新界定自己的血統。否則，他們看來註定要失敗的。當然，失敗和成功是硬幣的正反面，世家子弟其實更易於失敗。出於好心的豪門家長有時施加給兒子們難以承受的壓力，直到他們崩潰（如約翰-亞當斯和約翰-昆西-亞當斯的兒子們）；有時為兒女們選擇了錯誤的職業（如小艾伯特-戈爾）；或者讓他們放任自流於超出其權力的榮耀和誘惑之中。弗蘭克林-羅斯福夫婦就"很少管教"（underinvolved）子女，沒有給他們足夠的關注和約束。貝婁告訴讀者，羅斯福的兒子們"就是那種你能預見到的，被寵壞的機會主義者，他們毫不猶豫地利用家族名聲謀取私利。"羅伯特-R-肯尼迪在1968年被刺殺後，他的很多幼子在或多或少缺乏成年人看管的環境下成長起來，並沉迷於名利場中。在多次毒癮和事故之後，其中一些人現在回歸了有序的生活，另一些卻離開了這個世界。亞當-貝婁說得對，裙帶關係的某些方面是值得稱讚的。但是，看看這些世家子弟，我們也得擔心它的另外一些方面。注1：羅伯特-F-肯尼迪，1961-1964任美國司法部長，1964-1968任參議員，於1968年競選總統期間遭暗殺注2：喬治-H-W-布希，1989-1993任美國總統注3：約翰-F-肯尼迪，1961-1963間任美國總統，於1963年遭暗殺注4：凱瑟琳-肯尼迪-湯珊德，美國婦女結婚後常常會冠夫姓，把娘家姓作為中間名注5：伊麗莎白-多爾的丈夫鮑勃-多爾（Bob Dole）自1962年起大部分時間一直任國會議員，他於1996年在與柯林頓的總統競選中敗北。希拉利-柯林頓的丈夫比爾-柯林頓在1993-2001年間任美國總統，她本人於2000年當選參議員至今注6：托馬斯-傑菲遜，美國第3位總統，1801-1809在職注7：約翰-亞當斯，美國第2位總統，1797-1801在職注8：約翰-昆西-亞當斯，生於1767年，1825-1829年間任美國總統注9：指美國獨立戰爭勝利後的美英談判注10：安德魯-傑克遜，1829-1837年任美國總統注11：西羅多-羅斯福，1901-1909間任美國總統注12：弗蘭克林-羅斯福，1933-1945間任美國總統注13：斯蒂芬-海斯，《總統和任期》（Presidents & the Presidency）一書的作者注14：小約瑟夫-肯尼迪，二戰中陣亡，終年29歲注15：凱瑟琳-格雷厄姆，華盛頓郵報的繼承人，2001年病逝附：原文及網址http://www.weeklystandard.com/check.asp?idArticle=3012&r=cwuruTwo Cheers for NepotismAdam Bellow on fathers and sons.by Noemie Emery08/25/2003, Volume 008, Issue 47In Praise of Nepotismby Adam BellowDoubleday, 576 pp., $30THE HIGH-WATER MARK of nepotism in modern America may have occurred on November 20, 2001, when the building that houses the Department of Justice was renamed in honor of Robert F. Kennedy before a crowd that included his friends and relations and the president of the United States.It was a festival of the genealogically privileged. Present were George W. Bush, the son of George H.W. Bush and brother of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida; Senator Edward M. Kennedy, brother of Robert and John, and father of congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island; and Robert F. Kennedy『s numerous children, including former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, once a hot prospect for higher office, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, then in her second term as lieutenant governor of Maryland and considered a shoo-in to accede to the governor『s mansion. All listened as Joseph Kennedy II read aloud the account that his father once gave of how he managed to rise at thirty-five to the station of attorney general: "I worked hard, I was ambitious, I studied, I applied myself, and then my brother was elected president."All laughed, for the joke that connected everyone there was the fact that none of them would have been in that room if they had not been related to two former presidents--George H.W. Bush and John Kennedy--who themselves had been children of two rich and richly connected millionaire fathers who also held high public office. The younger Bush had become president when he narrowly defeated Albert Gore Jr., son of a prominent Tennessee senator who had raised Albert Jr. from his birth to be president and had bequeathed him his seats in the House and the Senate. Once installed, Bush began handing out choice jobs and assignments to members of the Bushes『 extended political family: Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of Vice President Richard Cheney, is a deputy assistant secretary in the State Department, while Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, is chairman of the FCC.This good luck was not confined to the Bushes and Kennedys. In 2002, Elizabeth Dole joined Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate; they had become household names when their husbands were running for president. Once in Congress, Mesdames Dole and Clinton joined a rich assortment of wives, widows, children, and siblings of other well-known political people, including Evan Bayh (son of a senator), Mary Landrieu (daughter of a New Orleans mayor), John Sununu (son of a former New Hampshire governor), House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (daughter of a five-term Baltimore congressman), and the up-and-coming Harold Ford Jr., who took his father『s old seat in the House.If everything in politics seems to be relative--or everyone in politics somebody『s relative--it also holds true in other professions: in the theater, where the Redgrave family is in its third generation of stardom; in the press, where the New York Times and the Washington Post are now being run by the grandsons of publishers, and in police and fire departments, where membership also runs in the family.Of course, none of this is news to Adam Bellow, son of the novelist Saul, and one of a number of children of writers who have followed their parents into the writing profession, if not always in the same field. Bellow, who credits his father『s name with opening doors for him (if not for keeping him on the right side of them), does not find this troubling. In fact, he『s written an entire book, "In Praise of Nepotism," about the phenomenon.THE WORD "NEPOTISM," from the Latin word nepote, was coined in the fourteenth century to describe the custom of appointing bastards to high civil posts. For centuries, it flourished as the handmaiden of class systems based on inheritance, meeting resistance in America, where it ran head-on into the competing values of egalitarianism, republican government, and worship of the self-made man.Reconciling nepotism with those values has always been difficult. "The founding period," Bellow writes, "was one in which the American attitude toward nepotism took shape as something deeply confused." Thus Thomas Jefferson, son of the most powerful family in the most class-driven state in the Union, helped to develop the political arts of mass organization and quasi-populist campaigning. He inherited his class standing as a matter of course, unlike George Washington, son of the second marriage of a minor planter, who had to depend on the favors of a complex web of extended-family members to help his ascent.It was John Adams who broke new ground as a republican dynast, openly raising his sons to be great. Two cracked under the strain, but the eldest, John Quincy, "accepted his fate," and as a child would enter a cauldron of pressure from which he never emerged. At age eleven, he went with his father to France as his secretary; at fourteen he went to Russia (minus his father) as secretary to the American legate; at fifteen and sixteen he was secretary to American peace delegations at The Hague and Paris; and in 1786 he went to London as his father『s secretary when the elder Adams became ambassador to the Court of St. James. In 1794 President Washington appointed his vice president『s son ambassador to the Netherlands at age twenty-seven, and his official career had started in earnest: Thirty years later, having been secretary of state and ambassador to Russia and Britain, he did indeed follow his father, becoming the sixth president in 1824.But this First Nepot had the misfortune to be opposed by the first great self-made man in American political history, Andrew Jackson, who turned Adams『s background against him in what would emerge as the time-honored fashion: "Adams was portrayed as hopelessly out of touch, a man who never worked an honest day in his life, and who despised the common people. . . . His family was mockingly referred to as 『the House of Braintree,『 and his father as 『King John the First.『"When Theodore Roosevelt became at twenty-three the youngest member of the New York Assembly in 1882, he was elected wholly on the reputation of his father, a well-known philanthropist, who had been all but worshipped in New York. "Mr. Roosevelt has hereditary claims to the confidence and hopefulness of the voters of this city," the New York Post advised readers, "for his father was in his day one of the most useful and public-spirited of men." Teddy『s Roosevelt name in turn became the booster-rocket for his fifth cousin Franklin, who adopted the former president as his model and patron, married his niece, and mapped out a career path that in every particular mirrored the one taken by Theodore. Bellow cites Stephen Hess『s comment: "The young candidate didn『t bother to correct any mistaken impression that he was a son or nephew of the Roosevelt president." He credits the big break of Franklin『s career--his selection in 1920 to run as vice president--to his "coattail connection" with Teddy. "I voted for your father!" he often heard people cry.WHEN FRANKLIN HIMSELF first ran for president, one of his backers was Joseph P. Kennedy, a financier with nine children who, by making his children『s advancement the work of his lifetime, lifted nepotism to stunning new heights. Dreaming of seeing his four sons in government, he devoted twenty-nine years to raising his first son, Joe Jr., to grow up to be president. He insisted his second son John take his place. As senator and president, John Kennedy had known and had worked with two other senators, Prescott Bush of Connecticut and Albert Gore of Tennessee. In 1962, Prescott Bush retired, but his second son, George Herbert Walker Bush, was planning his run for a House seat in Texas and dreaming of becoming president himself.Meanwhile, Gore had presidential ambitions both for himself and his son, who was raised from his birth as an oncoming president, and whose nickname at school was "Prince Al." His birth was announced on the front page of the Tennessee newspapers; at age six, he was hailed as a politician in training; at twenty-eight, he took his father『s old House seat, and then jumped to the Senate at age thirty-six. At just under forty, he ran his first race for president, because his father had asked him to do it. Four years later, he ran for vice president on Bill Clinton『s ticket, and they ousted George H.W. Bush, who was seeking reelection. Eight years after that, he made the run for the presidency his father had planned all his life. In what was billed as a battle of dynasts, he lost to Bush『s eldest son, George.Does this mean that nepotism is always triumphant? Not quite. To the surprise of all who had known them in prep school and college, family cut-ups George W. Bush and John Kennedy turned out to have political skills and real leaderly qualities. But Al Gore never developed such instincts, despite a quarter century in public life. Katharine Graham saved the Washington Post, but the newspaper empire of the Binghams of Louisville was torn to shreds by their heirs. Neither the four sons of Theodore Roosevelt nor the four sons of Franklin and Eleanor ever got far in national politics.And as for the twenty-six surviving grandchildren of Joseph P. Kennedy, torrents of cash, Hollywood stars, endless publicity, and the best advisers that love and money can purchase have been unable to create a single distinguished political figure. In 2000 (with Al Gore) and in 2002, Democrats were badly burned by two children of major political talents who got their first jobs on the names of their families, and proved unequal to tough races in more exposed venues, where family feeling carried less weight: Maryland Democrats are ruing the day they forced Baltimore mayor Martin O『Malley out of the gubernatorial primary to make room for Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. And at this writing, the one member of the third Kennedy generation now in a major political office is a single lackluster member of Congress, who won his first seat in the Rhode Island State Assembly by spending $73 a vote.What this may suggest is that the tension between nepotism and merit is not quite as great as it seems. Theodore Roosevelt got his start as the son of his father but turned himself into a dynamic and forceful political presence. Franklin Roosevelt at first spun off from his cousin but quickly established his singular presence. The three Kennedy brothers who had major careers were markedly different, not just from their father, but from one another, with different causes, and styles, and followers. As a politician, George W. Bush is different from both his father and grandfather, and, much as John Kennedy did, defines himself in opposition to what he perceives as his father『s misjudgments. As Bellow points out, Ted Kennedy『s name put him into the Senate, but forty years later his talents have kept him there, and turned him into a figure of consequence. By contrast, the younger Kennedys who were flushed out of office failed to establish compelling personae. To succeed, a dynast has to push off from the family name and in some sense redefine it. If he doesn『t, he appears doomed to fail.Failure, of course, is the flip side of glory, and one to which dynasts are prone. Well-meaning dynasts have pushed sons till they broke (the sons of both John and John Quincy Adams); pushed them into the wrong line of work (Albert Gore Jr.); or set them adrift at a level of fame and temptation that exceeded their powers to cope. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were "underinvolved" with their children and gave them scant attention and discipline. The sons they got "were just the kind you would expect," Bellow informs us, "spoiled opportunists who didn『t hesitate to sell their family name." After Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968, his many young children grew up more or less without adult supervision, while being indulged as celebrities. After many addictions and accidents, some have now gotten their lives back in order. Some of them did not survive.Adam Bellow is right that there『s at least something to praise in nepotism. But to look at the children of dynasties is to see that there『s something to worry about as well.Noemie Emery is a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard.Copyright 2003, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.

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