History Main / HereditaryRepublic

* If you ever delve into 19th century UsefulNotes/{{Latin America}}n history (of really any country in the area), there is usually a pattern of "handful of conservative families let the presidency rotate between them" - "Liberal coup / electoral landslide" - "Infinite reelection of the liberal ''caudillo''" - Conservative coup / return to "democracy" and [[FullCircleRevolution the cycle starts at the beginning again]]. The conservative families usually own(ed) most land worth owning and were/are an aristocracy in all but name. The only thing that was changed by the 20th century was the advent of "communism" as a label for the fighters against the dynastic elite and the increasingly blatant and ruthless right-wing military dictatorships. In the case of UsefulNotes/{{Peru}}, it was only during the dictatorship of the General Velasco Alvarado in the 20th Century that the power of the aristocrats and landholders was irreversibly broken by his well-meaning but horribly botched Agrarian Laws, and while the old families still remain active in politics nowadays, they have undoubtedly lost the ground they once held.

** North Korea doesn't quite operate like a "normal" hereditary monarchy, as Kim Jong-un is actually Kim Jong-il's ''youngest'' son. What happened to Jong-un's two older brothers? Well, the eldest brother was disowned by the family for trying to sneak into [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Tokyo Disneyland]]. And Kim Jong-il thought his middle son was "no good because he is like a little girl". All this being said, none of this is especially unusual in the traditional monarchies of East Asia; historically, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese kings and emperors would frequently pass over older sons they deemed unworthy, and even in those times and places where a rule was in effect that would seem to dictate the monarch's choice (most typically, that the heir had to be the eldest son of the official empress or queen, i.e. the monarch's favored consort), ways were often found to ensure the crown went to the desired heir (for instance, if the "heir's mother must be official empress/queen" rule were in effect and the desired heir's mother was not the empress/queen, the monarch would depose the current empress/queen and replace her with the desired heir's mother). (Kim Jong-un also has an older sister, but she was obviously never in the running in North Korea's highly patriarchal society.)

** "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces": The Republic of Korell has had a single director of power for several generations. The current one is called Commdor Asper, having inherited the title from his father.
** "Literature/TheMule": The Foundation has allowed dictatorial power to reside in the hands of a single family, just as it would in a monarchy, except they refer to their successive leaders by a republican title (Mayor).

Hoo, boy...

* Meanwhile, across the 38th parallel, South Korean President from 2013 to 2017 Park Geun-hye was the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, the developmental dictator whose iron rule eventually made South Korea's economic success possible in the long run (she was also his First Lady because her mother/his wife had been killed early on during his regime).
* The Republic of UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}} had the Somoza dictatorship, which ran from 1934 to 1979. Anastasio Somoza Garcia (father), Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle all held the office of President (the former two dying in office) at various times, but their real base of power was being [[JustTheFirstCitizen head of the national guard]].

* England (and Wales), Scotland and Ireland were a republic under UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell, who was succeeded by his son Richard, though this was mainly because Cromwell most emphatically refused the crown that Parliament was fully prepared to offer him. Other than that he was the King in everything but name (indeed Cromwell held ''more'' power than the King of England he overthrew had held). Richard was widely hated. After this dynasty began, people figured they might as well restore the monarchy and invited back the last king's son from exile to become Charles II.
* Haiti's François Duvalier ("Papa Doc") was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ("[[FluffyTheTerrible Baby Doc]]").
* Syria, where Hafez al-Assad handed off power to his son Bashar and had originally been planning to have his eldest son Bassel succeed him before Bassel [[DroppedABridgeOnHim died in a car crash]].
* {{Averted}} by Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak might well have left the presidency to his younger son Gamal had it not been for the Arab Spring. Indeed, ''trying'' to avert this was one of the main reasons Egyptians revolted in the first place--although it's likely that there would have been a revolution anyway even if Mubarak had promised not to give Gamal the presidency. You see, the hereditary succession was seen more as a symbol of the regime's corruption, and while most Egyptians were opposed to the idea on principle, most would also admit that they wouldn't have had much of a problem with it if it didn't occur in the context of a corrupt, authoritarian, and cynical regime.
** Similarly planned by Mubarak's neighbor UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, who had intended his second son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to succeed him as "Brotherly Leader" of the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya]].
* Raul succeeded his brother UsefulNotes/FidelCastro as President of Cuba. Subverted in that Raul was a leading political figure in his own right and that none of the politicians tipped as likely successors are related to the Castro brothers. Given that both of the Castro brothers have ''many'' children, that probably does a lot to prevent future power struggles.
** As of April 2018 Raul has handed the presidency to the unrelated Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, though it remains to be seen how long the Castros will stay out of power.
* Azerbaijan. The previous president, Heydar Aliyev, made his son Ilkham the next president.
* The United States has had several political dynasty families (generally at state or local levels of government) with associated political machines (and sometimes with high levels of corruption and patronage). These include the Daleys of Chicago, the Byrds of Virginia, the Kennedys of Massachusetts, the Sullivans of Alaska, the Udalls of the Western US, and the Tafts of Ohio.
** When the Democrats were choosing a candidate for the 2008 election, it was noted that if UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton became president, and served two terms, the USA would have been led for 28 years by members of two families.
** Then subverted when she wasn't nominated. Though she was later appointed Secretary of State, and made another, failed run in 2016.
*** Since Jeb Bush ran for President in 2016, one can't avoid imagining an AlternateTimeline where Hillary Clinton became president only to be succeeded by another President Bush. As is, the Bush family includes two senators, a Supreme Court Justice, two governors, and two presidents, along with many less notable politicians.

** And in a broader sense, all US Presidents so far (sans Martin Van Buren) are descended from UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland, possibly making it a constant lineage in the entirety of the United States' existence.
* Similar to the political dynasties of the US, the UK famously has the Benn family who has never left politics, and once had the Pitts (William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger), as well as many lesser-known families. The Benns also hold the hereditary peerage of Viscount Stansgate and the Benn baronetcy. They include: Tony Benn, Hilary Benn (male name), Sir John Benn, Stephen Benn, Emily Benn, William Wedgwood Benn, and others.
* More generally, up until quite recently the British government consisted of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, which held a mixture of people who inherited their seat and who were appointed to it for exceptional services to something or other. From 1911 onwards they lost most of their legislative power and could no longer completely veto bills presented to them, merely suggest amendments and revisions and send them back for a second vote, which in theory acts as a useful counterbalance [[DemocracyIsFlawed on those occasions when what looks good in the polls and the newspapers and what's actually good for the country don't overlap]]. It wasn't until the 1990s that the hereditary seats were mostly done away with[[note]]a small minority of them held their seats, and when one dies or retires there is an election to replace them with somebody who would held a hereditary seat under the old rules[[/note]], which was surprisingly controversial at the time.
* All the Stadholders of the Dutch Republic (1581-1795), while theoretically elected, were members of the House of Orange-Nassau and served for life. This gave the Dutch Republic the distinction of being a republic whose head of state was always a prince, since each Stadholder was also the monarch of the Principality of Orange (located in what's now the south of France) until 1713 when the Principality was seized by France. Despite no longer possessing Orange, they still used the title Prince of Orange. In 1747, the position of Stadholder became ''officially'' hereditary, dispensing with the pretense of electing the Prince of Orange every time. After UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars the Netherlands were made into an outright kingdom with Orange-Nassau as its royal house, which has remained on the throne up to this day.[[note]]The title Prince of Orange survives as well, since despite its foreign origin it came to hold great prestige in Dutch society. It's now the title of the heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands.[[/note]]
* India has the Nehru-Gandhi family: Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and ''her'' son Rajiv Gandhi have all been Prime Ministers of India (the latter two were both assassinated). Furthermore Rajiv's widow Sonia Gandhi is the current President of India's Congress Party, while their son Rahul is its General Secretary. Surprisingly, not related to UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi since Gandhi is a relatively commonplace surname in India, and Indira Gandhi's husband Feroze, who adopted his mother's last name of Gandhy, changed the spelling for that of the man himself to honor him (or to maximize political mileage, if you want to be cynical).
* And Pakistan has the Bhuttos: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto were both Prime Ministers of Pakistan. After the latter's assassination, her husband was elected President and their son made chairman of the Pakistan People's Party.

* UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, at least at first. Augustus Caesar was, after all, [[JustTheFirstCitizen only the Republic's First Citizen]] (the term became "prince" later, which itself comes from the word "first" in Latin--originally, the title was ''Princeps Senatus'', and was basically the "Speaker of the Senate" in modern terms), and throughout his dynasty, there was juggling of the actual offices held. The pretense slid away slowly because Rome's previous bad experience with monarchy meant it was politically expedient to not admit becoming one again. Augustus taking office was the ''de facto'' beginning of the Empire, but they waited three centuries before finally admitting that Rome had become an absolute dictatorship when the ''Princeps'' became ''Dominus''.

* Venice, Genoa, UsefulNotes/SanMarino and many other of Italy's city-states of the Middle Ages started as republics, but with time the positions of power ended up in the hands of a few families (San Marino resisted until the seventeenth century). Eventually, most of them became first lordships and then duchies (or were absorbed by those who became duchies), with the exceptions of Venice and Genoa, that remained hereditary republics until the end, and San Marino, which reverted to an actual republic in 1906.
** Venice and Genoa, while [[InsistentTerminology calling themselves republics]], were arguably instead [[ElectiveMonarchy elective duchies]]. The elected leaders of those city-states ruled for life and had the title of "doge", the Venetian word for "duke".
* Despite not being a republic in the first place, Denmark made an honest try for this when the three prime ministers in office between 1993 and 2011 all had the family name Rasmussen. Unfortunately, they were not related at all; Rasmussen is a somewhat common patronymic.
* If you ever delve into 19th century Latin American history (of really any country in the area), there is usually a pattern of "handful of conservative families let the presidency rotate between them" - "Liberal coup / electoral landslide" - "Infinite reelection of the liberal ''caudillo''" - Conservative coup / return to "democracy" and [[FullCircleRevolution the cycle starts at the beginning again]]. The conservative families usually own(ed) most land worth owning and were/are an aristocracy in all but name. The only thing that was changed by the 20th century was the advent of "communism" as a label for the fighters against the dynastic elite and the increasingly blatant and ruthless right-wing military dictatorships.
** In the case of Peru, it was only during the dictatorship of the General Velasco Alvarado in the 20th Century that the power of the aristocrats and landholders was irreversibly broken by his well-meaning but horribly botched Agrarian Laws, and while the old families still remain active in politics nowadays, they have undoubtedly lost the ground they once held.

* The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a political system that defies easy categorization. On the one hand it was ostensibly an ElectiveMonarchy with the head of state called "King". On the other hand the power of the king waxed and waned over time and ranged from nigh-absolute to nigh-ceremonial. Furthermore, the word the state used for itself is without a doubt (both etymologically and in its current use for the Third Polish Republic) the Polish word for "Republic". And the Sejm, the Polish "noble parliament" had a rather strong influence on all levels of policy. While the Sejm was never democratically elected, it did represent the "Szlachta" or Polish aristocracy which made up a much more substantial share of the population than in other countries.[[note]]The Szlachta was a higher share of Polish population than were eligible to vote in France under the Bourbon restoration[[/note]] On at least one occasion, the Szlachta even deposed a king for essentially "violating the constitution", so one could argue Poland-Lithuania had a mechanism of "Impeachment". The office of "King" meanwhile was never ''officially'' hereditary, but not for lack of trying on the part of the Kings - some of them managed three or four generations of hereditary transitions (more than most Real Life examples in this list) before various reasons led to the Sejm choosing a different person king.

* UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}'s politics can also be very dynastic. The most famous instances of these being the multiple Papandreous (Giorgios, his son Andreas, his grandson [[NamesTheSame Giorgios]]) and Karamanlises (Konstantinos, his nephew Konstantinos Androu "Kostas") who have served as Prime Ministers or Presidents.

* More generally, up until quite recently the British government consisted of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, which held a mixture of people who inherited their seat and who were appointed to it for exceptional services to something or other. From 1911 onwards they lost most of their legislative power and could no longer completely veto bills presented to them, merely suggest amendments and revisions and send them back for a second vote, which in theory acts as a useful counterbalance [[DemocracyIsFlawed on those occasions when what looks good in the polls and the newspapers and what's actually good for the country don't overlap]]. It wasn't until the 1990s that the hereditary seats were finally done away with altogether[[note]]though the hereditary peers that were members at the time still held their seats[[/note]], which was surprisingly controversial at the time.

* ''{{Series/Tyrant}}'': Abbudin is one. Not only does Jamal Al Fayeed succeed his father as president (who had been in office ever since he seized power years before) but it's revealed that they aren't elected, even in a fixed race, until Barry convinces Jamal to amend the constitution so they will be. This makes it a more blatant example than most. [[spoiler:After Jamal's death, Barry automatically succeeds him, although he did manage to garner public support by becoming a hero in the civil war against the Islamic insurgency.]]

* All of these examples probably pale in comparison with the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, where [[GenerationXerox three parent-and-child tandems have so far become President]] (father-and-daughter duo Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [[note]]who, by the way, can trace their descent directly to legitimate ''precolonial royalty''—the House of Lakandula, based in Pampanga province, which their family continues to dominate electorally to this day[[/note]] / mother-and-son duo Corazon "Cory" Aquino and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III / father-and-son duo Ferdinand Marcos Sr and Jr), where the entire government is at the mercy of around [[UpToEleven 178 families]] ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines see the full list here]]), where ''at least three in four'' members of Congress have other relatives sitting in office, and where some families have held power in the same province or city for almost a century if not more. The list of examples run from the Aquinos to the Arroyos to the Binays to the Dutertes to the Marcoses—and so on ''ad infinitum''. In fact, if not for the need to pretend at democracy, all that's missing is a formal peerage system.

* All of these examples probably pale in comparison with the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, where, as of 30 June 2022, [[GenerationXerox three parent-and-child tandems have been President]] (Diosdado Macapagal and daughter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [[note]]who, by the way, can trace their descent directly to legitimate ''precolonial royalty''—the House of Lakandula, based in Pampanga province, which their family continues to dominate electorally to this day[[/note]] / Corazon "Cory" Aquino and son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III / father-and-son duo Ferdinand Marcos Sr and Jr), where the entire government is at the mercy of around [[UpToEleven 178 families]] ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines see the full list here]]), where ''at least three in four'' members of Congress have other relatives sitting in office, and where some families have held power in the same province or city for almost a century if not more. The list of examples run from the Aquinos to the Arroyos to the Binays to the Dutertes to the Marcoses—and so on ''ad infinitum''. In fact, if not for the need to pretend at democracy, all that's missing is a formal peerage system.

* All of these examples probably pale in comparison with the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, where, as of 30 June 2022, [[GenerationXerox ''three'' parent-and-child tandems have been President]] (Diosdado Macapagal and daughter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [[note]]who, by the way, can trace their descent directly to legitimate ''precolonial royalty''—the House of Lakandula, based in Pampanga province, which their family continues to dominate electorally to this day[[/note]] / Corazon "Cory" Aquino and son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III / father-and-son duo Ferdinand Marcos Sr and Jr), where the entire government is at the mercy of around [[UpToEleven 178 families]] ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines see the full list here]]), where ''at least three in four'' members of Congress have other relatives sitting in office, and where some families have held power in the same province or city for almost a century if not more. The list of examples run from the Aquinos to the Arroyos to the Binays to the Dutertes to the Marcoses—and so on ''ad infinitum''. In fact, if not for the need to pretend at democracy, all that's missing is a formal peerage system.

* All of these examples probably pale in comparison with the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, where [[GenerationXerox two parent-and-child tandems have been President]] (Diosdado Macapagal and daughter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [[note]]who, by the way, can trace their descent directly to legitimate ''precolonial royalty''—the House of Lakandula, based in Pampanga province, which their family continues to dominate electorally to this day[[/note]] / Corazon "Cory" Aquino and son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III / father-and-son duo Ferdinand Marcos Sr and Jr), where the entire government is at the mercy of around [[UpToEleven 178 families]] ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines see the full list here]]), where ''at least three in four'' members of Congress have other relatives sitting in office, and where some families have held power in the same province or city for almost a century if not more. The list of examples run from the Aquinos to the Arroyos to the Binays to the Dutertes to the Marcoses—and so on ''ad infinitum''. In fact, if not for the need to pretend at democracy, all that's missing is a formal peerage system.

* All of these examples probably pale in comparison with the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, where [[GenerationXerox two parent-and-child tandems have been President]] (Diosdado Macapagal and daughter Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo [[note]]who, by the way, can trace their descent directly to legitimate ''precolonial royalty''—the House of Lakandula, based in Pampanga province, which their family continues to dominate electorally to this day[[/note]] / Corazon "Cory" Aquino and son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III), where the entire government is at the mercy of around [[UpToEleven 178 families]] ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_families_in_the_Philippines see the full list here]]), where ''at least three in four'' members of Congress have other relatives sitting in office, and where some families have held power in the same province or city for almost a century if not more. The list of examples run from the Aquinos to the Arroyos to the Binays to the Dutertes to the Marcoses—and so on ''ad infinitum''. In fact, if not for the need to pretend at democracy, all that's missing is a formal peerage system.

** In fact, someone drew up [[https://i.redd.it/zvjjad7iq6iy.jpg an enormously extensive political family tree]], which reveals that '''almost all''' Philippine Presidents were related to one another by blood or marriage. The web certainly puts to shame the American presidents' claims of near-unanimous descent from King John.[[note]]Incidentally, the exception to that is not UsefulNotes/BarackObama--whose mother was a WASP with provable descent from the English monarchy--but UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, whose Dutch family had not intermarried with the English much if at all. As of this writing, it also remains to be seen whether Obama's successor Creator/DonaldTrump—whose ancestors were German—and now also current US president UsefulNotes/JoeBiden—bucks the trend.[[/note]]

* UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, at least at first. Augustus Caesar was, after all, [[JustTheFirstCitizen only the Republic's First Citizen]] (the term became "prince" later, which itself comes from the word "first" in Latin), and throughout his dynasty, there was juggling of the actual offices held. The pretense slid away slowly because Rome's previous bad experience with monarchy meant it was politically expedient to not admit becoming one again. Augustus taking office was the ''de facto'' beginning of the Empire, but they waited three centuries before finally admitting that Rome had become an absolute dictatorship when the ''Princeps'' became ''Dominus''.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry6'', Anton Castillo, ruler of a Caribbean nation called Yara, intends for his son Diego to inherit his position of "El Presidente."

* The Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth was a political system that defies easy categorization. On the one hand it was ostensibly an ElectiveMonarchy with the head of state called "King". On the other hand the power of the king waxed and waned over time and ranged from nigh-absolute to nigh-ceremonial. Furthermore, the word the state used for itself is without a doubt (both etymologically and in its current use for the Third Polish Republic) the Polish word for "Republic". And the Sejm, the Polish "noble parliament" had a rather strong influence on all levels of policy. While the Sejm was never democratically elected, it did represent the "Szlachta" or Polish aristocracy which made up a much more substantial share of the population than in other countries.[[note]]The Szlachta was a higher share of Polish population than were eligible to vote in France under the Bourbon restoration[[/note]] On at least one occasion, the Szlachta even deposed a king for essentially "violating the constitution", so one could argue Poland-Lithuania had a mechanism of "Impeachment". The office of "King" meanwhile was never ''officially'' hereditary, but not for lack of trying on the part of the Kings - some of them managed three or four generations of hereditary transitions (more than most Real Life examples in this list) before various reasons led to the Sejm choosing a different person king.

* The Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth was a political system that defies easy categorization. On the one hand it was ostensibly an ElectiveMonarchy with the head of state called "King". On the other hand the power of the king waxed and waned over time and ranged from nigh-absolute to nigh-ceremonial. Furthermore, the word the state used for itself is without a doubt (both etymologically and in its current use for the Third Polish Republic) the Polish word for "Republic". And the Sejm, the Polish "noble parliament" had a rather strong influence on all levels of policy. While the Sejm was never democratically elected, it did represent the "Szlachta" or Polish aristocracy which made up a much more substantial share of the population than in other countries.[[note]]The Szlachta was a higher share of Polish population than were eligible to vote in France under the Bourbon restoration[[/note]] The office of "King" meanwhile was never ''officially'' hereditary, but not for lack of trying on the part of the Kings - some of them managed three or four generations of hereditary transitions (more than most Real Life examples in this list) before various reasons led to the Sejm choosing a different person king.

** There have been three cases when a president has been the descendant of a previous one: UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams and UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush were the sons of UsefulNotes/JohnAdams and UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, respectively, while UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison was the grandson of UsefulNotes/WilliamHenryHarrison. UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt and UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt were fifth cousins by blood but Eleanor Roosevelt was Teddy’s niece to whom he was particularly close.\\
None, however, directly succeeded their ancestors. Dubya came closest--he entered office "only" eight years and one intervening presidency (that of UsefulNotes/BillClinton) after his father left it and UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush lived to see his son serve out both terms. Meanwhile, there were 24 years and three presidents between the two Adamses[[note]]UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, UsefulNotes/JamesMadison, and UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe[[/note]] and UsefulNotes/JohnAdams himself died in the second year of his son's presidency, while UsefulNotes/WilliamHenryHarrison famously didn't live out his own term, never mind see his grandson enter the White House 48 years later. The Roosevelts were separated by 24 years and 5 presidents [[note]]UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft, UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson, UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding, UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge, and UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover[[/note]], and Teddy did not live to see FDR elected.

** In fact, someone drew up [[https://i.redd.it/zvjjad7iq6iy.jpg an enormously extensive political family tree]], which reveals that '''almost all''' Philippine Presidents were related to one another by blood or marriage. The web certainly puts to shame the American presidents' claims of near-unanimous descent from King John.[[note]]Incidentally, the exception to that is not UsefulNotes/BarackObama--whose mother was a WASP with provable descent from the English monarchy--but UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, whose Dutch family had not intermarried with the English much if at all. As of this writing, it also remains to be seen whether Obama's successor Creator/DonaldTrump—whose ancestors were German—and now also current US president Creator/JoeBiden—bucks the trend.[[/note]]

** In fact, someone drew up [[https://i.redd.it/zvjjad7iq6iy.jpg an enormously extensive political family tree]], which reveals that '''almost all''' Philippine Presidents were related to one another by blood or marriage. The web certainly puts to shame the American presidents' claims of near-unanimous descent from King John.[[note]]Incidentally, the exception to that is not UsefulNotes/BarackObama--whose mother was a WASP with provable descent from the English monarchy--but UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, whose Dutch family had not intermarried with the English much if at all. As of this writing, it also remains to be seen whether current US president Creator/DonaldTrump—whose ancestors were German—also bucks the trend.[[/note]]

* Konohagakure in ''{{Naruto}}'' is a downplayed version of this; four of the seven hokage are from the same bloodline and the 7th Hokage is the son of the 4th, but the rest were unrelated, though part of the same MasterApprenticeChain.

* Konohagakure in ''Franchise/Naruto'' is a downplayed version of this; four of the seven hokage are from the same bloodline and the 7th Hokage is the son of the 4th, but the rest were unrelated, though part of the same MasterApprenticeChain.

* More generally, up until quite recently the British government consisted of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, which held a mixture of people who inherited their seat and who were appointed to it for exceptional services to something or other. From 1911 onwards they lost most of their legislative power and could no longer completely veto bills presented to them, merely suggest amendments and revisions and send them back for a second vote, which in theory acts as a useful counterbalance [[DemocracyIsFlawed on those occasions when what looks good in the polls and the newspapers and what's actually good for the country don't overlap]]. It wasn't until the 1990s that the hereditary seats were finally done away with altogether[[note]]though those hereditary peers that were members still held their seats[[/note]], which was surprisingly controversial at the time.

* More generally, up until quite recently the British government consisted of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, which held a mixture of people who inherited their seat and who were appointed to it for exceptional services to something or other. From 1911 onwards they lost most of their legislative power and could no longer completely veto bills presented to them, merely suggest amendments and revisions and send them back for a second vote, which in theory acts as a useful counterbalance [[DemocracyIsFlawed on those occasions when what looks good in the polls and the newspapers and what's actually good for the country don't overlap]]. It wasn't until the 1990s that the hereditary seats were finally done away with altogether[note]though those hereditary peers that were members still held their seats[/note], which was surprisingly controversial at the time.

* Konohagakure in ''Manga/Naruto'' is a downplayed version of this; four of the seven hokage are from the same bloodline and the 7th Hokage is the son of the 4th, but the rest were unrelated, though part of the same MasterApprenticeChain.

* Haiti's François Duvalier ("Papa Doc") was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ("[[FluffyTheTerrible Baby Doc]]".

* More generally, up until quite recently the British government consisted of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, which held a mixture of people who inherited their seat and who were appointed to it for exceptional services to something or other. From 1911 onwards they lost most of their legislative power and could no longer completely veto bills presented to them, merely suggest amendments and revisions and send them back for a second vote, which in theory acts as a useful counterbalance [[DemocracyIsFlawed on those occasions when what looks good in the polls and the newspapers and what's actually good for the country don't overlap]]. It wasn't until the 1990s that the hereditary peerages were finally done away with altogether, which was surprisingly controversial at the time.

*** Augustus had one biological child, a daughter named Julia whom he married to several potential successors before giving up on her and naming his wife's son Tiberius (stepson of Augustus) heir. Tiberius's son Drusus predeceased him, as did his brother Drusus and nephew Germanicus, while his other nephew Claudius was considered an idiot, but his great-nephew Caligula (who was Julia's grandson and Augustus's great-grandson on his mother's side) was available. Caligula was assassinated by his own PraetorianGuard, who installed Claudius (who turned out to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity not such an idiot after all]]). Claudius had a living son when he died, but he was too young to rule and Caligula's nephew Nero assassinated him before he came of age. Nero's death was followed by the "Year of Four Emperors".

** Ultimately, the NCR is a subversion; the NCR held regular, reasonably free and fair elections for its entire existence, and Aradesh and Tandi both stayed in power by virtue of their popularity and political acumen rather than any military or legalistic shenanigans. The reason Hoss never succeeded Tandi was that he was despised as a SpoiledBrat and made things that grow on the bottom of particularly unkempt ponds look intelligent and erudite.