When Edward M. Kennedy first ran for his brother John's Senate seat in 1962, his opponent famously said of this youngest, least distinguished Kennedy, "If his name were Edward Moore, [his] candidacy would be a joke." In this season of George W. Bush, a pleasant enough Governor of modest achievement, one is forced to ask, "If his name were George Walker, would he be a presidential candidate, let alone the runaway front runner for the Republican nomination?"
A nation can abolish monarchy, as America did with zest in 1776. But it cannot so easily abolish the dynastic impulse. The American fascination...