The Kennedys proved to be more akin to the Medici.

But all the Kennedy children were raised with the same principles: winning isn't everything, it's the only thing; anything it permissible to succeed; have no idols except for the family - the Kennedy family, that is. Why the family should want political power was not discussed; it was accepted that power was its own reward. Indicative of the prevailing attitude was Jack observation in 1960 that Eleanor Roosevelt (widow of Franklin) disliked him because 'She hated my father and can't stand it that his children turned out so much better than hers.' It never occurred to him that Eleanor Roosevelt might dislike him on principled political grounds. No doubt, worship of the family is a virtuous secondary good. But democratic rule is based on a devotion to ideas not siblings. Though they portrayed themselves as the heirs of Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt, the Kennedys proved to be more akin to the Medici.

D. Kunz, 'Camelot continued: What if John Kennedy had lived?', N. Ferguson (ed.), Virtual History (1997), 371