Two generations does not a dynasty make.

David McCullough: Well I think John Adams with his sense of history would have laughed any use of the word dynasty for one generation succeeding another generation in the office of the presidency. That two generations does not a dynasty make, if any one family had occupied executive power held executive power under our system for 3, 4, 5 or 6 or 10 generations then that might be constituted as the dynasty. Now I think that like a lot of thing was a people say today it really doesn’t have much historic validity, when people say for example of it about days gone by and lets say the days gone by of 18th century of America. Oh, that was a simpler time, that they didn’t have to contend with the complexities and difficulties be set our time that was the simple time, anybody never says that has no sense of history doesn’t know it he/she is talking about. There was no simpler time ever different time, but not simpler and I think anyone who watches this series, when the realities of smallpox. The realities of medicine would have the benefit of anesthetics, the reality of epidemic disease, the reality of very difficult often horrendously dangerous transportation that come through in the film they will never think that those people in our family they live in the simpler time ever began.

Recorded on: 3/3/08