How do we adjust?

[Reaganfan]

Our Presidents and their administrations all seem connected. Maybe in a vague way, but indeed if you look at history, the past 50 years have seen many connections.

Our President in 2013 is Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton was a part of his administration. She was the first lady under Bill Clinton who first considered running for President 24 years ago in 1988.

If you want to go back even further, our Vice President just five years ago was Dick Cheney, who began working in the Nixon administration in 1969, and Richard Nixon was the Vice President of a WWII General who was Commander in Chief during the 1950s.

In other words, for 60 years, our politics have seemed to be interconnected by the same people.

WWII ---> Eisenhower  ---> Nixon  ---> Ford/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush  ---> Dubya
Clinton/Gore '92  ---> Hillary Clinton  ---> Barack Obama

How do we, whether we elect a Democrat or a Republican, adjust to the likelihood that within the next election cycle or so, we will likely begin a completely new timeline?

[BluegrassBlueVote]

This economy is all Ike's fault!

[Mehmentum]

There is a good chance that Hillary will be our next president, which would keep the continuity for at least one more administration.  Most of the potential Republican candidates are newcomers with no direct connections to previous administrations (the largest exception being Jeb Bush).

[Middle-aged Europe]

Oh great, Six Degress of Dick Cheney!


Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State under Barack Obama and First Lady "under" Bill Clinton.

Warren Christopher was Secretary of State under Bill Clinton and Deputy Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter.

Cyrus Vance was Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter and Secretary of the Army under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.


Or in other words: People who work in the executive tend to have a long career in the executive.

[ag]

Actually, I'll let you in on a secret: at that level of "connectedness", it all goes back to George Washington. Uninterrupted So, the likelyhood of having to "adjust to a completely new line" is about equal to the likelyhood of the US being occupied by China

[Mr. Morden]

Whoever's elected in 2016 will obviously have *someone* in their Cabinet who worked in a previous administration.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Fun fact: every administration since Adams's has contained people who served in previous administrations, or who served in congress during previous administrations. The reason is that these are the people who actually know how to govern.

[Mister Mets]

Many potential presidents are connected to previous administrations.

Hillary Clinton- Husband of one President. Served in the cabinet of another.
Andrew Cuomo- Cabinet official in the Clinton administration.
Joe Biden- Vice President to Obama.
Deval Patrick- Served in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration. Friend of Obama.
Brian Schweitzer- Appointed to Department of Agriculture post by Clinton.

Jeb Bush- Brother to a President.
Marco Rubio- Protege to a President's brother.
Chris Christie- US Attorney in the Bush administration.
Bobby Jindal- Served in Bush's HHS department.
Paul Ryan- Former aide to Jack Kemp, George HW Bush's HUD secretary.

So the timeline may continue.

Granted, there are a few exceptions. Rand Paul, Mark Warner and Ted Cruz don't really have links to former presidents.