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Nah, that's not how these things work.
The Kim family might beg to differ.
North Korea is a huge exception. Most dictatorships do not last that long. It's worth studying how they managed to pull that off.
No. It really isn't. History is filled with hereditary succession. It's not some outlier thing. It's actually kind of been normal for most of human history.
It's filled with hereditary monarchies in a very stratified society. Modern dictatorships don't arise out of a system like that. Many of them were originally fighting against exactly those systems.
Hereditary rulers didn't all rise from a stratified society. They created the strata. Prince, princess, Duke, duchess etc. Etc etc. The strata was always their family and friends. Strata like that would not exist without them.
History has been filled with usurpers to the throne. Who have then gone on to set up their own dynasties etc. it's actually quite normal. And in the process they turned up the strata. Replacing it with people, loyal to them. Because the strata itself is meaningless and is just meant as a positive feedback mechanism.
Francisco Franco's regime didn't become hereditary. Neither did Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Augusto Pinochet, Syngman Rhee or Park Chung Hee. Rafael Trujillo was succeeded by his son; that lasted about 5 months.
Most authoritarian "communist" regimes don't become hereditary, either. Not Mao, not Stalin, not Pol Pot, not Ho Chi Minh. Raúl Castro had power for a while after Fidel's health was failing, but he's out of power now and it's not been picked up by others in the Castro family.
Just try finding 20th century dictatorships that became hereditary. It just doesn't happen. North Korea is the exception.
The fact that they didn't doesn't mean that they wouldn't have. Saddam Hussein specifically was grooming his sons to take over and had given them positions in said hierarchies to do so. The only reason they didn't was that America killed them all. Trujillo as you said did in the Dominican Republic. But was cut short because of American interference and the fact that his father was a brutal and not very well-liked man. Whose lead he followed That does not negate the fact that they were indeed intended to be hereditary. Only showing that other empires will interfere when they can.
ML are not communists. They never have been, and more importantly never will be. No matter what they call themselves. That said, it is true. They are often a bit of a different beast. At least to begin with. Militarily reserving power. There's often a pre-existing hierarchy with lots of competing influences. Eventually though they always whittle down, consolidating power until one is left. Most of them never lasted long enough to do that though. But make no mistake with assigning xi jinping as leader for life in China. They've laid the groundwork for their transition to a possible future hereditary rule. It won't be xi jinping's family. But likely the next leader they put forward if they last that long. It's such an ingrained thing in human nature. We may never actually ultimately escape it.
You still haven't answered this.
Kim Il Sung spent decades establishing his successor. And he had absolute power by then. Neither applies to Trump. What usually happens in these cases it's that the potential successors are at each other's throats. This often results in civil wars, like what we have in Libya and Sudan right now.
The Republican party has spent a century longing for and pursuing dictatorship. Trump doesn't need to do any more prep .The party eagerly picks through his word salad, looking for a way to please him. They even had shirts made up showing familial succession.
Not to mention, who's gonna oppose him? Democrats? And breach decorum?
Democrats definitely will. Maybe not the leadership and not like they should. But the thing everyone has been conditioned to forget. Is that unlike the Republican party, the Democrat party isn't significantly in any way a monolith. It's a coalition party. Much to the displeasure of Democratic leadership. It's the only reason I still have any hope for them.