I think we have to come to some grip with how we are defining greatness. If it is just a string of capable, generally successful rulers I’d probably be inclined to go with Tom Scud’s suggestion, only extend it even farther - from Osman I to Suleiman I, ~1281-1566. It was an astonishingly good run of consistently capable, successful rulers, all father-son. Thereafter the state increasingly became a de facto oligarchy, with the sultan holding a more titular position. Though regardless the somewhat indolent Selim II ( 1566-1574) broke the the run of good quality rulers.
About the only caveat is that you could argue about the long succession war after Bayezid I, post-Battle of Angora. The eventual victor was certainly capable, but one could argue that the interregnum of 1402-1413 breaks the rulership chain. But Mehmed I was a ruler of at least part of the state throughout until he finally defeated the last of his brothers. Bayezid I himself took the big hit from my namesake, but he otherwise was doing pretty well up until then, including breaking what is generally regarded as the last ‘true’ Crusade at Nicopolis in 1396.
I’d quibble. Matilda never held the throne and regardless was not outstandingly successful in of herself. John is almost certainly over-maligned and under-rated, but in the end he did fail pretty spectacularly ( though to counter myself, so did Bayezid I, really ). And Henry III accomplished relatively little in his very long reign other than to reintroduce the Anglo-Saxon names of Edward and Edmund into the royal tradition ;). Also you left out William II, who should probably be rated as pretty solid and successful until he took that arrow in the throat.
Motilal Nehru: successful lawyer and politician
Jawaharlal Nehru: India’s first prime minister and probably the only one in this list who can be considered a great
Indira Gandhi: Not a great policymaker but certainly a shrewd and successful politician
Rajiv Gandhi: As PM he initiated some of the economic liberalization which helped speed up the Indian economy in the 80’s and later.
Rajiv’s son Rahul, is emerging as a major Indian politician and may become PM himself at some point.
Like I said only true great, but hard to match for influence over a large country in modern times.
Goes back much, *much *farther. John, Lionel and Ethel’s parents, Georgie Drew and Maurice Barrymore, were big theater stars. Georgie’s parents, Louisa Lane and John Drew, were also big stars and theater managers. And Louisa’s mother was a successful actress in England–so we are talking from ca. 1800 to Drew Barrymore, today.
The list of Assyrian kings appears to be a mostly unbroken lineage of the rulers of that nation for around 1300-1700 years, depending on the source you like. You won’t find many humanitarians on that list, but you will find some major league badasses. The Assyrian influence over the region waxed and waned over the centuries and during the waxing periods you can find several generations of strong rulers.
As an aside, I believe the OP is referencing the Hardcore History podcast by Dan Carlin, specifically episode 41, “Thor’s Angels.” It can be found here along with the sources used for the program. It can be found on iTunes as well. I cannot recommend Hardcore History highly enough to those who are fans of history. The audio is high quality and professional and the ideas are…well…interesting, to say the least.
If we count Amyntas III of Macedon as a great king (for hanging on in a time of turmoil and establishing a stable state with military power projection capacity and a good diplomatic presence), then with his son Philip II and grandson Alexander III the Great, they make quite a generational winning-streak. But it ends with Alexander.
What about in the 4th Dynasty (?) during the Old Kingdom period? My History Channel view seems to indicate that (and please be gentle here, as I’ll most likely spell them incorrectly) Sneferu, Kufu and Jedefra were all pretty great (with Jedefra apparently being much maligned by history, but actually doing some pretty great things, including possibly building the Sphinx, at least according to HC).