Kayce- despite being the son of one of the most important businessmen in his state, managed to be a scumbag who apparently never went to college, knocked up a local Indian chick and had to enlist in the Navy to survive. It's great that he made it as a Seal, but his leadership potential was wasted. He should have gone to the Naval Academy and been a Seal officer, then stepped in as John's successor. He ends the series owning some land, but not enough to be anything other than a manual laborer.

Lee- even more of a lost cause than Kayce. Even John made fun of him for this in the first episode. Just wanted to ride a horse and strum on a guitar like a low prole, no sense of the big picture, no ambition to make anything of himself. No pride.

Beth- the most promising of the group, but she was a turboslut who was turned out by her own father's fucking escaped criminal ranch hands as a teenager (and we can only begin to wonder who else). Had some good ideas but was too wild to follow through on them.

Jamie- the most calculating and capable except that he wasn't part of John's bloodline so he doesn't count for the purposes of my poast.

Anyway, all the Dutton kids fell short and ultimately failed when it came to the task of continuing their family's legacy, for which their ancestors had struggled and literally killed for over a century.

What caused this? They all spent too much time hanging out with their father's moronic ranch hands. From childhood on. They learned all kinds of bad habits, and learned them well. Those kids should have been packed off to boarding school at 14 if not before. Get them away from the poisonous atmosphere of having a gang of criminal proles in the bunkhouse as their only neighbors, and introduce them to other kids from families like theirs. Teach them to be leaders, prepare them for carrying out a life of duty and service, broaden their horizons. By the time college came around it was already too late. Prep school isn't what it used to be, but it would have been better than what they got.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5706543&forum_id=2Elisa#48822521)