First, it was the Bushes and Clintons, then the Obamas and Cheneys. One could say this for Donald Trump: Having vanquished two Democratic and two Republican dynasties, he is a truly bipartisan, equal-opportunity disrupter. Has one man ever singlehandedly vanquished so many political name brands? The obvious answer is no. Whether you believe this to be a good or bad thing, this much is certain: Trump has been a wrecking ball to the political establishment and the family legacies it has produced. In fact, it has come to all but define his unique political career.
In 2016, after serving as a successful governor of Florida, Jeb Bush finally stepped up to do what his family always envisioned and sought the presidency. He was the early favorite to follow in the footsteps of his father and brother and become the third member of the Bush dynasty to reach the Oval Office. And if the Mitt Romney-John McCain neoconservative party of yore had carried on with business as usual, his heavily financed candidacy might have succeeded or at least been highly competitive. But no one, least of all the Bushes, counted on the rebellious emergence of Trump, who flattened Bush early on, calling him “low energy Jeb.” Bush never recovered, once famously having to prompt an audience to clap for him, and pulled out of the race after three primary contests, having won the paltry total of four delegates.
But Trump wasn’t done with the Bush dynasty. In a debate before the 2016 South Carolina primary, The Donald called the Iraq War, initiated by George W. Bush, “a big fat mistake.” He then shocked everyone in the military-friendly state by channeling Democrats’ standard talking points: “They lied! … They said there were weapons of mass destruction … and they knew there were none,” adding that the war cost taxpayers $5 trillion that could have been used to rebuild American infrastructure. The Bush family never forgave Trump, with Bush 41 and 43 refusing to endorse the eventual GOP nominee. They knew their dynasty was done.
Bullseye on the Clintons
Next came the Clintons. Like Jeb Bush in the GOP primaries, Hillary Clinton was considered a heavy favorite in the 2016 general election. Having served as First Lady, senator, and Secretary of State, her credentials were impeccable. And if she had won, Bill Clinton would have returned to the White House as First Gentleman in a third Clinton term. Yet the voters proved to be unimpressed or uninterested in Hillary’s resume. They wanted to shake things up profoundly in the DC Swamp, and Trump was the only one who promised to do exactly that as a genuine outsider who had already accumulated enough fame and fortune for a lifetime.
Despite her extensive experience and voluminous position papers, Clinton was drawn into the trap of campaigning not on her merits but on the horrors of Trump. Once she labeled his supporters deplorable and irredeemable, she forfeited the high ground and suffered the most shocking defeat in decades – so much for the Clintons.
Dick and Liz
When Trump attacked Jeb and George W. Bush, one could reasonably presume that Dick Cheney was not pleased, given that, by all accounts, the former vice president under Bush 43 was a forceful advocate for the ultimately disastrous Iraq War. However, he remained silent while his daughter, Liz Cheney, launched her political career, strongly supporting Trump’s policies as a conservative member of Congress from Wyoming. But after 1/6/21, she suddenly transformed into an outspoken critic of the 45th president, warning that it would be a disaster to allow him to ever return to the White House. She became a useful tool for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
As a result, when Liz Cheney sought re-election in 2022, in a party still dominated by Trump, she was slaughtered in the primary. Dick Cheney, once reviled by Democrats almost as much as Trump, later got directly involved, saying two months before the 2024 election, “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” as he and his daughter, lifetime conservatives, pledged their support to Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney then went all in, campaigning side-by-side with Harris despite widespread skepticism about the wisdom of such a decision. The rest is history, as is the Cheney dynasty.
The Last Trump Domino to Fall
The one Democrat who maintained a high level of popularity over the last decade was Barack Obama. As the groundbreaking, smooth-operating 44th president who won two decisive victories, he continued to possess ample political capital. He was consistently called on to rescue flagging Democratic campaigns. However, after Joe Biden melted down in his June debate with Trump, Obama unwisely tried to depict Biden’s performance as just a bad night. He later worked behind the scenes as a driving force in removing Biden from the ballot. Then, in the waning days of the 2024 campaign, he hectored black men – “the bros” – over their wavering support for Harris, strongly implying they were acting misogynistic and had a duty to vote for her because of her race, as they had for him. It blew up in his face, and he was roundly criticized even by friendly media.
The shine had finally come off the first black president and his popular wife Michelle, who declared in her much-ballyhooed speech at the Democratic convention that “something magically wonderful is in the air” and that “hope is making a comeback” in her efforts to prop up Harris. It failed to move the needle, as the fabricated magic and hope died a slow death. After all these miscalculations, it is reasonable to conclude that after 16 years of dominating the left-of-center political landscape, the Obama era is all but over.
We don’t know what lies ahead for the 45th-turned-47th president as he prepares to reclaim the reins of power. His accomplishments are already the stuff of legend, from his once-unthinkable upset victory in 2016 to the culmination of the greatest political comeback in American history with his lopsided triumph in 2024. But come what may, history will record that this man’s most stunning accomplishment was terminating no less than four political dynasties in transforming American political culture to a degree no one could have imagined.
