In a fascinating note regarding our political culture, Michael Medved observes in the Wall Street Journal that “For the seventh consecutive election, the next president will either be a privileged son or a man with no relationship with his biological father.” All of the current candidates, and strikingly, each of the previous seven presidents, is either the son of a notably powerful and accomplished patriarch, or else lacks any substantive relationship with his biological father. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich fit neatly in the latter category; Obama’s father left for Kenya before his first birthday, Ginrich’s father abandoned his seventeen year old wife when Newt was only several days old, and Clinton’s father died in a car crash three months prior to Bill’s birth. Mitt Romney and George Bush, on the other hand, represent the privileged-son type presidential candidate, following after fathers highly accomplished in both business and politics. Apparently, growing up in an intact, traditional family of average distinction is no way to become a United States president – a fact which, whatever its exact significance, surely does not speak well about the state of our political culture.
For further discussion of the phenomenon and its political significance, see Medved’s article here.
February 6th, 2012 | 10:11 am
I guess Mr. Ozar has discounted any possibility of a Santorum presidency.
February 6th, 2012 | 5:56 pm
This is less significant than Medved makes it seem, I think. The sample size is small, for one. Just about all our recent presidents are from privileged backgrounds. Of any group, some will have had fathers in their family life, some will have not. So the disjunction ‘either a privileged son or a fatherless son’ is arguably the consequence of the first fact (they’re all privileged!) and a trivial logical point (everyone either had a father in his/her life, or didn’t).
February 6th, 2012 | 8:28 pm
Joe Z, just a little quibble: I am not sure what you mean by “recent” presidents, but it occurs to me that many were not privileged (in a material way). Truman, Carter and Clinton came from humble circumstances. Nixon’s family was impoverished. Eisenhower, Reagan and Ford had, I think, run-of-the-mill backgrounds.
I am inclined to agree with you, though, that the sample size is too small to support any definite conclusion. Similarly, five of the last seven presidents were left-handed, which seems unusual but probably signifies nothing.
February 7th, 2012 | 1:47 am
Yet another excellent reason to vote Santorum! We need to have a male role model in the Oval Office who grew up in an intact, traditional family of average distinction. We need a dad who wears sweater vests.
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