The 2024 presidential election was the first in nearly 40 years without a Bush, Biden, or Clinton at the top of a major political party ticket. Five individuals from those three families have been the presidential or vice-presidential nominee for 11 consecutive general election cycles – and it would have been 12 had President Joe Biden not been forced off the ticket earlier this year.
But 2024 did not just break the streak of America’s most notable political families appearing on a presidential ticket. It also showed that their influence over American politics has all but collapsed.
The political establishments in both parties pulled out all the stops this year to sink Donald Trump. Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama – the most potent political force Democrats had at their disposal – hit the campaign trail hard for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined them, repeating liberal talking points about how a second Trump presidency would mean “the end of democracy.”
In a previously unthinkable spectacle, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney – whom Democrats have long slandered as a war criminal – joined the Obamas and Clintons in backing Harris over Trump. Liz Cheney, Dick Cheney’s daughter who voted to impeach Trump, joined her father in supporting Harris, despite the fact that Harris has publicly opposed every cause Cheney claims to believe in.
Although George W. Bush declined to endorse either candidate, his silence was taken by many to be a tacit Harris endorsement. It is well-known that there is no love lost between Trump and the Bush family. In 2016, the 43rd president revealed he voted for “none of the above” instead of Trump, and in 2020 he reportedly wrote in Condoleezza Rice, his former Secretary of State.
In prior elections, such a groundswell of support for one candidate from the political establishments in both parties – a phenomenon unprecedented in the modern era – likely would have been insurmountable. But in Trump’s case, it may have actually helped him become president again.
What Americans signaled by handing Trump a decisive victory this year was not just that they were embracing his America First agenda, but that they were rejecting the failures of the political class that has ruled Washington for decades.
The political establishments have only grown more vicious in their rhetoric toward Trump since 2016, with Biden doing everything he could to weaponize the government to impoverish Trump and throw him in jail. Yet the more America’s failed political dynasties railed against Trump, the more voters flocked to him. Trump increased his raw vote total in both 2020 and 2024, and this year he won the popular vote outright – something no Republican presidential candidate has achieved in two decades.
This crushing defeat for not just Democrats but the entire political establishment has called into question the legacies of the former standard-bearers of both parties.
In the case of Barack Obama, his 2008 and 2012 victories resulted from mustering a wide swath of diverse voters into the “Obama coalition.” Pundits predicted this movement would lead the Democrat Party to complete political domination for the foreseeable future.
Yet, as Democrats turned a deaf ear to blue-collar workers, Trump directly appealed to them. His victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 was a repudiation of Obama’s failures as president and revealed how Obama’s arrogance and abandonment of what were once core Democrat constituencies had opened the door for Republicans to win over these voters.
After Hillary Clinton’s humiliating 2016 loss, she took on a personal mission to destroy Donald Trump at all costs. The book Shattered, an account of her failed campaign, reveals that the very first day after her loss she began laying the groundwork to deflect blame and dispute Trump’s 2016 victory by blaming the media, Bernie Sanders, and above all a “vast Russia conspiracy” for interfering in the election.
Over the last eight years, Clinton has obsessively focused on ensuring Trump would not win a second term. Initially, that effort appeared to bear fruit in 2020 with Biden’s successful bid for the White House. But in 2024 those hopes came crashing down as Trump defeated Harris – hailed by Democrats and the media as the second coming of Barack Obama and the standard-bearer of a “new generation” of leadership.
But it was arguably the Cheney and Bush dynasties and their establishment allies who suffered the most from Trump’s successful comeback bid this year. While the Obamas and Clintons will continue to enjoy a significant level of influence within the Democrat Party, the establishment wing of the GOP now finds itself to be a cause without a constituency, rejected by Democrats and rank-and-file Republicans who have fully embraced President-elect Trump.
Trump’s 2024 victory may well represent the rise of a new political dynasty – one not tethered to a specific individual or family, but to the simple principle that America’s government should serve the people and not itself. That is one dynasty Americans have made clear they will stand behind.
Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.
What do all these so-called dynasties have in common, along with Obama who the author failed to mention and that Old Joe was merely a stand in for the last four years or the Bush family? Answer: They’re all globalists with a shared vision of a One World Order versus the values our Founders established via the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. The People finally had a moment of clarity this past November and voted to stop our descent into the abyss of global socialism / Marxism that has engulfed so much of what used to be the western world.
The war of course is NOT over, as the author seems to imply, because the forces that gave us the Clintons, the Bushes, Obama and Biden still exist and remain committed to achieving their goals. So, we must remain vigilant to the ongoing threat to ensure we don’t backslide and squander this opportunity to begin digging ourselves out of the very, very deep hole that the financial backers of these so-called dynasties have dug for this country.
Not only was Trump’s triumphant win a rejection of the Bush, Clinton, Cheney and Obama dynasties, it was a rejection of A-listers such as: Oprah, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Robert DeNiro, Cher and the rest of their ilk.
What a refreshing moment for America – now and always – America’s government should serve the people.
Those evil ones will not give up without a fight. The lure of the dollar combined with a powerful global is the goal.
I don’t think the blow is final or fatal Hopefully a concussion to last long enough for a return to some normalcy and a chance for Trump and his team and hopefully enough hands in DC to point the wreck in the right direction. As for old “dynasties” there is nothing to be proud of about any of them Records speak for themselves.
I am glad they are gone…I just hope they stay that way!
George W Bush was once my hero. But it turns out he was the same as the rest. $$$
By the people, for the people. If DJT governs like the first term, he’ll be known as one of the most successful presidents.
Trump is not just the leader of the GOP, the USA, and the free world, but he is now arguably the leader of the whole world.
We need to continue to pray for President Trump AND Vice President Vance’s safety and for Vance to continue Trump’s fight to clean house and get back to our Founders Constitution and Bill of Rights. Without a lot of prayer to God’s Truth, the evil One World Plan will continue to try to be implemented.
I’m more worried about a “Gavin” dynasty than anyone named “Cheney”. While we celebrate 2024 don’t forget 2028 comes too soon!
We know that Bush is part of Deep State.
“the end of democracy.” These idiots need to go back to school. The United States was never a democracy. The Founding Fathers intended for the United States to be a republic (rights of the people), not a democracy (mob rule).
The part that infuriates me about these ‘political dynasties’ is they are drawing a taxpayer-funded hefty retirement and benefits for the rest of their lives. Ironic we NEVER see a budget figure for that cost.
And a good thing to.
The long reign of the Uniparty — globalist Dems & Repubicans — was overthrown. I did not realize that fully until the Bushes and the Cheneys attacked Trump bitterly. The Ruling Class was shaken to its corrupt core. Huzza!
When trump ran in 2016 it was a perfect opportunity for the republican base to stick up the proverbial middle finger to the party establishment , when i voted for trump in the primary i did not think that he would win but i figured that if trump was getting a good share of votes it was going to shake up the party a little , then trump won the primary and for the first time in my life i was excited to cast my vote
But then after he was inaugerated my eyes were opened quickly , i saw that the old guard in congress including romney , mc connel and others did everything to slow walk trumps agenda , obviously voting against trump policies was too risky for them they ensured that the bills they did not like never came to a vote to begin with .
Then when a lot of republicans disillusioned decided to sit out the elections in 2018 and democrats won control the old guard was quick to blame trump .
The dems infighting has given a golden opportunity to the republicans to keep power for a long time, but if the GOP does not stop demanding complete loyalty to Trump, they will lose their power much quicker.
The people have spoken and Trump won. I guess the Democrats like spending more money for food and gas. While the rest us suffer from a screwed up economy. If they are so rich come pay my f*cken bills no money to pay bills.
Harris had money and spent it like water. Thanks to her donors. It has nothing to do with color of skin.
There is so much to do to unravel the past 10 years of Bad government 101 and the abuse of the american peoples mental health and the continued insults to our collective intelligence by institutions that no longer function as intended or expected.
I have long commented on the trends, now visible, yet in between the lines. The hidden agendas from media/uniparty collusion and the endless Psy Ops, dishonesty and spin, The prebunking of narratives and the censorship to actually counter truth and common sense.
The cabinet picks and personnel choices made by this incoming admin and the president elect only exude competence and integrity on so many levels.
I detect a new approach By the ” Donald ” and hopefully he has wizened up to the devious ways of the DC Uniparty
President Trump will be great again this election all his picks are great and they will have his back. The first time President Trump trusted to many Dems in Washington and all they did was stab him in the back and that included some Republicans as well including his VP pick that hated him. With all his great picks so far and more to come and what he wants to do this country will be great again and with the border closed we need just to deport the ones that do not belong here. Next year will be the start of something great.
That last paragraph says it all about what we want from President Trump and future Presidents. We want our elected officials to work for our Country (us) not themselves.
Taylor…raised 2 billion from singing. Netted about 100 million in profit.
Kamala…raised 2 billion from being a female of color. Deficit of about 20 million.
Conclusion?
Whyte females make make more.money than black females due to systemic ray cosmetics and miss og oh knee.
Signed, the faculty of Harvard, Yale, Columbia and all east coast prep schools.