Chelsea Clinton is 36

[Algernon Moncrieff]

55. Very cute

We've actually been trying that for a while. Obviously, the Adams' were the first, although both were one-termers. Both were far more distinguished outside the White House. TR and FDR were cousins, as were FDR and Eleanor. I know some of the decedents ran for other offices, but not much came of it. Alice Roosevelt Longworth (TRs daughter) was never political, but was a character and a social fixture in DC until her death in 1980.

We wanted the Kennedys to be a dynasty, but it never came to be. JFK and Bobby were gunned down; Teddy doomed himself at Chappie, JFK Jr. died in the plane crash.

The Nixon-Eisenhower dynasty never came to be. David and Tricia never did anything in politics. Chuck Robb married Linda B Johnson, but his trajectory stalled at about 1980.

The Bushes are old money. Prescott Bush was a typical New England Republican of the day, and (as we now know) something of a Nazi admirer in the 30s. H.W. Bush was, in many ways, everything you'd want in a President on paper. He had a distinguished military career; his family had money, but he went out and made a bunch more in his own right; and he took an interest in Government. His son was a different story. He was not a successful businessman except for his stint running the Texas Rangers (and he traded A-Rod, so what does that tell you?), but then he got elected President. I think we're done with Bushes in the White House for a generation.

Hillary Rodham is from a political family. When she married Bill, she became the proverbial "great woman behind every great man." He became the youngest Governor in the history of Arkansas; lost the job; and then won it back. I think she always wanted to be President, and her running is not a sign that we will have an endless parade of Clintons. I think she's it.

The more dangerous trend that I see is what's going on with Trump. Not necessarily Trump himself, but the notion of the election as infotainment, and the prospect of people with no real political background at all being elected not on intellect or accomplishment, but simply on celebrity. Reagan may have been an actor, but he'd also been a two-term Governor of California prior to being elected President. Trump has no political background, and I suspect that if he were elected, he'd be ready to leave the job in frustration within 18 months.