758 No blue blood required for these legacies

The Washington Post has an interesting round up of the congressional and administrative positions obtained either through the death of a relative or appointment upon the retirement of a relative, or appointment because of a family connection here. The recently widowed Mrs. Matsui of California will join 18 Senators and many Representatives who obtained their seats this way.

Names and family ties matter in administrative appointments. "President Bush, who rose to power with a famous political surname, has rewarded several children of his ideological allies. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's son became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's daughter was made inspector general at the Health and Human Services Department, Justice Antonin Scalia's son was appointed to a top job in the Labor Department, and Vice President Cheney's daughter and son-in-law scored prestigious positions in the State and Justice departments."

"Bush also chose the wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to be his labor secretary, and the sons of Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn as his press secretary and Medicare director. And in 2001, he chose former House member Asa Hutchinson, brother of then-Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration."

"According to the Center for American Women and Politics, 45 women have been elected to Congress to fill vacancies created by their husbands' death. There are least three widows of former congressmen now in the House: Reps. Mary Bono (R-Calif.), Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.). In the Senate, there are three wives of prominent politicians: Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), [Hillary] Clinton and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), wife of former Maine governor John R. McKernan Jr."

This web site lists even more.

More than once I was asked if I was Earle Bruce's wife (football coach at Ohio State University in the 1980s). But that's as close as I can get to trading on a family name.