President Barack Obama 's relationship with the prominent American families mentioned varies:
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Adams Family: President Obama has a distant familial connection to the Adams family through his mother, Ann Dunham. Genealogical research has revealed that Ann Dunham is a descendant of Mareen Duvall, who is related to John Adams through marriage. This makes Obama a very distant relative of John Adams, the second president of the United States.
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Roosevelt Family: President Obama's connection to the Roosevelt family is through his political career and ideological affinity rather than direct familial ties. He has expressed admiration for Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies, which were instrumental in addressing the Great Depression.
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Kennedy Family: President Obama's relationship with the Kennedy family is primarily political. He admired President John F. Kennedy and often referenced him in his speeches. Obama's political rise was sometimes compared to that of JFK due to his charisma and eloquence. However, there are no known direct familial connections between President Obama and the Kennedy family.
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Bush Family: President Obama's relationship with the Bush family is based on their shared experience in the presidency. He succeeded George W. Bush as the 44th President of the United States and interacted with members of the Bush family during his time in office. Despite their political differences, Obama has maintained a respectful relationship with the Bush family.
In summary, while President Obama has some distant familial connections to the Adams family through his mother, his relationships with the Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Bush families are primarily based on political interactions and shared experiences in the realm of American politics.
Joe Biden's connection to the prominent American families mentioned, such as the Adams, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Bush families, is primarily through his political interactions rather than direct familial ties.
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Adams Family: Joe Biden's connection to the Adams family is through his political career rather than blood relations. John Adams, the second president of the United States, and his son John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, were members of the Adams family. Joe Biden has no known direct familial relationship to this family.
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Roosevelt Family: Joe Biden's connection to the Roosevelt family is also indirect. The Roosevelt family produced two significant American presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president. Joe Biden's connection to this family is through his political career and not through direct familial ties.
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Kennedy Family: Joe Biden's connection to the Kennedy family is through his political career and his interactions with various members of the Kennedy family over the years. While he served alongside Senator Ted Kennedy in the Senate and had a professional relationship with him, there are no known direct familial connections between Joe Biden and the Kennedy family.
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Bush Family: Joe Biden's connection to the Bush family is through his political career as well. He served as Vice President under President Barack Obama while George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States. There are no known direct familial connections between Joe Biden and the Bush family.
Overall, Joe Biden's relationship with these influential American families is based on his political career and interactions within the political sphere rather than direct familial ties.
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In the United States, although elections determine the occupants of the White House and the Congress, the true control of the economy often lies in the hands of wealthy and influential families. Even American political scientists assert without hesitation that "the elite govern America, not the people." This influence extends not only to the cabinets of the White House but also to the federal and state legislatures, where phenomena like succession of fathers and sons, uncles and nephews inheriting power, and brothers joining forces are not uncommon. For these political dynasties in the United States, participating in elections is more akin to a "family business," benefiting from mutual support among family members, which enhances their confidence in winning, thus perpetuating the family's political legacy across generations. In a democratic nation, life is often determined by a small elite rather than the majority of the population. The elites hold power, while the masses lack it.
Although the United States lacks the traditional aristocracy found in Europe, it is not devoid of powerful political dynasties. Represented by four major families—the Adams family, the Roosevelt family, the Kennedy family, and the Bush family—these families wield significant influence. Additionally, there are numerous hereditary aristocratic families, known as the "Boston Brahmins," who excel in wealth, status, careers, and culture, and are considered untouchable in their lineage. In the mid-19th century, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., himself a member of one such family, exposed the power of this group and coined the term "Boston Brahmins," drawing parallels with the Brahmin class in India to emphasize their immense influence.
Boston, the largest port city in the northeastern United States and the capital of Massachusetts, is considered the starting point of American history, where events like the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles of the American Revolution occurred. The early residents of Boston were predominantly Puritan immigrants from England, whose moral standards shaped an extremely stable and well-structured society. These early immigrants were regarded as America's "blue bloods," excelling in wealth, status, careers, and culture, effectively becoming the de facto aristocracy despite the absence of noble titles.
The accumulation of wealth in Boston initially stemmed from the opium trade. In the early 19th century, the British controlled 90% of the opium trade in China. However, within the American share of 10%, the majority belonged to the Perkins family of Boston. Notable families like the Cabot, Cushing, Weld, Delano, Forbes, and Coolidge families were also involved in the opium trade and amassed immense fortunes.
These renowned families formed powerful commercial conglomerates, boasting lineage and prestige since colonial times, and placing a strong emphasis on pedigree. In an article published in The Atlantic in 1860, a member of this aristocratic group coined the term "Boston Brahmins," proudly declaring their significant influence in developing and leading art, culture, science, politics, trade, and academia.
The Boston Brahmins produced numerous luminaries across various fields, including presidents such as John Adams and John Quincy Adams of the Adams family, founders of General Electric like the Coffin family, presidents like Calvin Coolidge of the Coolidge family, presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt of the Delano family, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes of the Holmes family, the Kennedy family, and the P...
• 近代中国最牛家族的开创者宋嘉树 三个女婿更是名震天下 - JustWorld - 
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美式九品中正制
美国虽然以选举决定白宫与参众议员，但真正控制经济的还是那些豪门世家。就连美国政治学家们也毫不犹豫地指出：“治理美国的是精英，而不是民众”。不仅仅是白宫内阁，包括联邦参众两院，甚至各个州，都不难发现父子相继、叔侄承传、兄弟携手等等的现象。对美国政治世家而言，参加竞选更像是一项“家族事业”，得益于家族成员的互相扶持，他们对获胜更有把握，家族政治基因由此代代延续。“民主国家的生活和极权社会一样，也是由一小撮人决定的。精英是有权的少数，民众是无权的多数。”
美国的确没有欧洲那样的贵族，但也不乏实力强劲的政治世家，比如亚当斯家族、罗斯福家族、肯尼迪家族和布什家族为代表的四大家族。而且也有不少世袭权贵家族群体，这个世袭权贵群体无论财富、地位还是事业、文化都显得出类拔萃，同时血统又高不可攀，在美国被称为“波士顿婆罗门”。
19世纪中，有一位Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)，自己是其中一分子的后代，著书揭露这一集团的力量，借印度婆罗门阶级名号，首创了“波士顿婆罗门”的名称，说明他们的巨大影响力。
老奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯（Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.）
波士顿（Boston）是美国东北部新英格兰地区最大港口城市，马萨诸塞州首府。新英格兰被认为是美国历史的起点，波士顿屠杀、波士顿倾茶事件，以及美国革命几个早期的战役——列克星敦和康科德战役、邦克山战役和波士顿围城战，都发生在该市或附近的地方。波士顿的早期居民绝大多数是来自英国的清教徒。清教徒的道德规范在波士顿塑造了一个极端稳定、结构良好的社会。这些早期移民被视为美国的“蓝血”，无论财富、地位还是事业、文化都显得出类拔萃，成为了没有贵族称号的事实上的贵族。
波士顿这座城市最早的财富积累源于鸦片贸易。19世纪初，英国人控制了中国90%的鸦片贸易。但在美国人所占的10%中，大部分都属于波士顿的珀金斯公司，而且波士顿一些声望很高的家族比如卡伯特家族、库兴家族、韦尔德家族、德拉诺家族、福布斯家族、柯立芝家族等，也都参与过鸦片贸易，并中获得巨额财富。
这些大名鼎鼎的家族构成了资本雄厚的商业集团，他们自殖民地时代起就有着绵延世系与显赫声望，而且普遍门第观念极重。在刊载于1860年《大西洋月刊》的一篇文章里，这个世袭权贵群体中的一位成员创造了“波士顿婆罗门”一词并骄傲地宣称：这个“种性”兼具财富、智识和美德，在“发展和领导艺术、文化、科学、政治、贸易和学术上有极大的影响力”。
“波士顿婆罗门”在各个领域涌现过的名人车载斗量，包括出过约翰·亚当斯总统和约翰·昆西·亚当斯总统的亚当斯家族、通用电气公司的创建者之一科芬家族、出过柯立芝总统的柯立芝家族、出过罗斯福总统的德拉诺家族、出过霍姆斯大法官的霍姆斯家族、肯尼迪家族、创建了摩根财团的皮博迪家族，等等。
“波士顿婆罗门”互相通婚而很少与外人通婚，由此形成了一个近乎封闭的血缘群体——这正是“种姓”的定义。他们内部互相通婚，靠血缘、姻亲、商业、宗教等关系织成一张绵密的大网，深刻地影响了美国历史。温思罗普家族与福布斯家族可以说是“波士顿婆罗门”通婚网的中心。通过来自温思罗普家族的外祖母，前国务卿约翰·克里与小布什在内的四任美国总统有血缘关系。
在一个多世纪里，“波士顿婆罗门”为美国造就了总统（如约翰·亚当斯、约翰·昆西·亚当斯和富兰克林·罗斯福）、大法官（小奥列弗·霍尔姆斯）和众多全国性政治家（如温德尔·菲利普斯和亨利·卡波特·洛奇），以及大批有文化和政治影响力的学者和教育家（如爱默生和查尔斯·埃利奥特）。
“波士顿婆罗门”的这些世家望族不仅拥有巨大的财富，而且以贯通经济、文化和政治以及具有全国性的眼光和抱负为特性。这些豪门望族通过慷慨的捐赠直接资助了哈佛大学、耶鲁大学、普利斯顿大学、哥伦比亚大学、纽约大学等美国名校，甚至可以说，“波士顿婆罗门”掌控着哈佛、耶鲁和普林斯顿三所大学。了解西方文化的都知道，世间还没美国的时候，就已经先有耶鲁大学，而耶鲁正是“波士顿婆罗门”的专属禁地。
“波士顿婆罗门”以血统自矜，很少接纳外人，圈子封闭，甚至对于自己独特的口音也十分执着。虽然对于很多普通美国人来说，他们的口音听起来刺耳，就好像在吵架。他们的发音中会像英式英语一样吞“R”，但是同时又有着自己非常高傲的音色。对于“波士顿婆罗门”来说，从事哪个行业，是不存在“隔行如隔山”限制的，他们可以在政、商、学界自由游走。
他们财力雄厚，人脉广泛，出产了许多作家、政治家，这些人的子女世代在哈佛、耶鲁接受教育。在冷战之前，一百多年来，尽管共和党、民主党在公共政治上势同水火，但是两党高层人员的私人谈吐、行事风格很类似，因为他们要么属于“波士顿婆罗门”本身，要么就是其代理人。
这些人互相联姻，产生出第一流的“门阀”，其中有约翰·亚当斯总统和约翰·昆西·亚当斯总统所属的亚当斯家族、通用电气公司的创建者之一科芬家族、罗斯福总统所属的德拉诺家族、霍姆斯大法官所属的霍姆斯家族、老布什和小布什所属的布什家族等等。一个突出例子就是奥巴马时代的美国国务卿，现在的气候特使克里，他就是典型的“美利坚蓝血”。
通过追溯克里外祖母的血统，克里与小布什在内的四任美国总统都能扯得上血缘关系。克里的外祖父和外祖母的结合，就属于当年“波士顿婆罗门”内部通婚的典范——一个在商界声名鹊起，一个在政坛叱咤风云。克里全名约翰·福布斯·克里（John Forbes Kerry），中间名“Forbes”，号称源自苏格兰某大贵族——福布斯家族，这也是他外祖父家的姓氏。这个美国福布斯家族，通过在中国上海贩卖鸦片捞到了大笔资本后，又顺利进军了美国的铁路、石油、地产和零售业，还同时慷慨的资助过哈佛、耶鲁和普林斯顿大学，俨然一副“文化财阀”世家的人设。
相比福布斯家族，克里的姥姥温思罗普家族的政治色彩更为浓郁。他们的老祖宗约翰·温思罗普是第一任马萨诸塞殖民地总督和“新英格兰联盟”主席，被后世称为“美利坚奠基之父”。这个家族的后代们长期担任国会议员，更不乏众议院议长或者总统内阁幕僚这样的核心权力人士。
约翰·温思罗普（John Winthrop，1588--1649）
正是克里的“蓝血”身份，帮助他在1960年代上大学的时候，成功加入了耶鲁大学的骷髅会，为日后从政积累起了大量人脉。骷髅会最初是由罗素家族成员创办并资助的，这个罗素家族，也属于“波士顿婆罗门”中的一员。而克里的父系，则是德国移民的后代，原本姓氏为“科恩”（Cohen），带着浓郁的犹太色彩。后来为了更好地融入美国主流社会，克里的爷爷把“科恩”改成了“克里”（Kerry）。
克里的大长脸确实很像犹太人
在美国的淘金热中发了财的克里爷爷，特别重视克里老爸的教育。非“蓝血”的优秀精英人士的克里老爸，作为一名成功的外交官，费了老大劲，才迎娶到了“波士顿婆罗门家族”的小姐。所以，婚后，克里老妈也没舍得放弃自己高贵的Forbes姓氏，而是把它和夫姓并列使用，还认真的传给了自己的儿子约翰·福布斯·克里。仔细捋一捋克里身后三大家族的来龙去脉，不难发现，其中几乎包含着半部美国史。
由此可见，在美国，精英圈子也分了很多层，通常，面对中产阶级奋斗上来的新兴精英人士（比如克林顿夫妇、奥巴马夫妇这种），“美利坚蓝血贵族”们的骨子总带着一种油然而生的骄傲和优越感。好像布什这样的名门望族，放在四五十年前，肯定是瞧不上佩洛西的，现在却也不得不接受跟她平起平坐。
佩洛西本姓是达历山德罗，到她这一代已经是第四代移民了。她的父亲托玛索原先是个保险经纪人，通过多年的努力当上了马里兰州巴尔的摩市市长，而且一当就是十年。达里山德罗家族在巴尔的摩也算是个世家了，但和真正的豪强一比，又只能算是寒门。如果不出什么意外的话，他家的势力将永远止步于巴尔的摩市。
但南希达里山德罗攀上了保罗佩洛西的高枝。佩洛西家族是真正的豪门。保罗的哥哥是旧金山市的议员，他的嫂嫂则是加州州长纽森的姑姑，纽森的哥哥是石油大亨保罗盖蒂。南希攀上了保罗这样的门阀，又怎么能不飞黄腾达？
不过，佩洛西的父祖也仅仅为市一级的“门阀”，到了佩洛西这代人，突然上窜到全国级别的政治家族，让两边家族都光耀门楣。不过，放眼全美，无论是亚历山德罗家族，还是佩洛西家族，都属于新晋门阀。从传统底蕴来讲，跟布什这样的真正的名门望族、波士顿婆罗门相比，他们还是寒门级存在。
所以，美国其实是个掌握在门阀士族手里的国家。在美国的46任总统中，有24位互相是亲戚。比如卡特是尼克松的表弟，尼克松又是塔夫托的侄孙，塔夫托又是亚当斯的没出五服的亲戚。而卡特、杜鲁门、约翰逊三个人又都是奥巴马的亲戚。还有福特是罗斯福的亲戚、林肯是老布什的亲戚等等。
照片里这几位总统都是亲戚
因此，如果从门阀制度的角度去观察美国，很多看起来不合理的现象就很容易理解了。因为中国的魏晋南北朝到隋唐，地方豪强一直是中国政坛的主角。首先，中国士族的源头来自于汉末的世家所谓各地的世家豪强，如袁绍家这样的四世三公，相当于在地方是豪强，可以组织自己的私人武装，保卫自己的田地，甚至铸造自己的城堡。所以相当于在基层地方控制了地方经济，然后优秀子弟在朝廷做官。
除了经济，汉末世家也是儒学大师辈出，垄断了教育与意识形态，门生故吏遍天下，而且能读书大部分都是世家子弟，所以世家和世家之间，可以通过师徒，婚姻，经济，政治勾兑等各种方式联系在一起。
有了门阀政治，自然就有九品中正制。所谓“上品无寒门，下品无势族”。目前美国的门阀世家垄断了美国的常青藤大学，高昂的学费就不是一般中产可以负担。就算有中产的子弟或者海外留学生就读与这些大学，同样哈佛毕业，平民子弟最多就是在大公司打工。而门阀因为控制教育，经济与政治，他们的子弟的起点与机遇是其他人不可比拟的。
这些门阀世家因为掌握了舆论与意识形态，除了越来越奢华与腐化外，也必然慢慢喜欢谈玄论道，与现实越来越脱节，也流行类似毒品的“五石散”。产业空心化当然是与现实脱节的表现，除此外，美国政府也开始主导LGBTQ（变性）运动，大麻合法化，流行吸毒等。如3月27日美国巴尔的摩的大桥居然被货轮撞塌了，靠高调同性恋身份当上交通部长的Buttigieg以极端无能著称，但符合政治正确。就大桥被撞塌，他居然能扯到种族，说桥上的车辆多是载黑人和波多黎各的孩子，桥孔设计有种族问题。真是大有魏晋南北朝其实的谈玄论道之风，当然从文化角度去看，等级自然差远了，这样比较好像有辱当时的世家大族。
后来西晋发生“八王之乱”与“永嘉之乱”，东晋南渡。北方是胡人政权。南渡后的东晋皇帝已经失去兵权，唯一作用是维持各大家族之间的平衡。而坚持留在北方的地方豪族则与胡人政权合作，势力也越来越庞大。慢慢令胡人汉化，胡汉融合，统一南方，建立隋唐。这些豪门大族大族相互通婚，甚至连唐朝的李家也不那么看重，当时有本册子，论天下高门大族，李家排在后面，而崔家排在最前面，唐太宗虽然生气也无可奈何。
慢慢，连朝廷都不能控制豪门大族，无法对与官员勾结的豪门大户征税，但朝廷的支出的刚性的，就只能对中小地主与农民横征暴敛，如果加上天灾，就容易发生民变。于是唐朝在代宗时期进行了财政改革，刘晏将盐的统购统销变成了统购分销，并将漕运改成有偿雇佣。唐德宗时期，另一位能人杨炎推出了“两税法”，春秋两季交税，故而称两税法。
唐朝是一个农业国，其立国的税收是租（田租）+庸（徭役）+调（纺织品），当时，唐朝实行均田制，人人可以分到田地，所以税基锁定在人身上。随着时间推移，与所有的王朝一样，出现了以下现象：1. 人口数量增加，人口从贞观年间300万户增加到了900万户，不管是生育增长还是有人说的避祸人口露面，总之，人口大大增加了；2. 税负不均引起的土地兼并。唐朝有爵位以及5品以上官员各有免税额度，有的人群实际上属于untouchable，于是，出现了普通人不堪忍受税收，另一个群体则拥有税盾。于是乎，瞒报土地、隐匿人口不可避免；3. 在和平年代，有一个累积效应，就是贫富差距自然扩大，人口增长会导致人力资本的回报低于土地资本的回报。如果还以人丁作为税基，假定此时还是均田就属于自欺欺人。
