Rehoboam, Old Testament

We just observed Fathers Day. The scriptures are full of stories of family relationships. Many turn out well, but others end badly. This is in the latter group.
Upon the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam assumed the title. We don't know what he was thinking at the time, but it's possible that he saw the job as more of a collection of perks to be enjoyed by himself and a few cronies. We don't know how old he was when he became king, but he spoke and acted for himself, and was therefore probably fully grown.
A matter was raised soon after the official coronation by representatives of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel (excluding Judah and Benjamin). They wanted tax relief, and felt that it was justified by the conditions of peace and prosperity of that time. Perhaps they were simply tired of seeing huge buildings (the temple and the king's palace) constructed with money collected from them.
Rehoboam listened, but he evidently had not been advised or prepared to respond immediately. He promised an answer in three days.
He met with a collection of his father's advisers, who counseled the new monarch to agree to the peoples' wishes in order to gain their loyalty. This was apparently not the advice Rehoboam sought, and he set up another meeting, this time with younger men with whom he was more familiar. Their advice (perhaps offered because they knew him well) was the opposite of his fathers advisers'. "You're the king. They're nothing, and you should take the opportunity to remind them just who is boss."     
The follow up meeting took place, and Rehoboam not only declined the request of lighter taxes, but added a little vulgarity which doesn't translate well in most English Bibles. We can only guess what he was thinking and expecting. Would he need more money for future military campaigns? Would other temples be built? Did the new king envision an even greater palace of his own? Did he expect the ten tribes to simply knuckle under to their new ruler?
Rehoboam certainly didn't foresee the disastrous response to his decision. It was nothing less than the partition of the nation, with ten tribes forming the new nation Israel with its capital in Samaria to the North, and the other kingdom (Judah) retaining Jerusalem and territory in the south.
No serious effort to reunite the two kingdoms was ever made, and this division proved disastrous. Instead of one rich, strong country there were now two middling states. Both were obliged to make alliances from time to time, and the leadership if Israel, in particular, was unsteady. Both countries saw an increase in idolatry, and the people of both largely ignored prophets called to reclaim them as believers. Both were eventually taken into captivity under the worst circumstances. Both Rehoboam and the first king of Israel, Jeroboam I, were despised long after their lives ended.   
Perhaps these events would have happened sooner or later no matter who was king, but Rehoboam should have been prepared for the job by his father Solomon, who, for whatever reason, neglected this part of his duties. Millions suffered over hundreds of years as an indirect result of Solomon's failure.