1964 NELSON ROCKEFELLER Political NEWSPAPER President ROCKY Campaign Express NY

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1964 NELSON ROCKEFELLER Political NEWSPAPER President ROCKY Campaign Express NY:
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12 page 1964 newspaper for Nelson Rockefeller, \"Campaign Express\". Number 4; May 1, 1964.

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Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller(July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was an American businessman, philanthropist, public servant, and politician. He served as the41st Vice President of the United States(1974–77) underPresidentGerald Ford, and as the49th Governor of New York(1959–73). He also served in the administrations of PresidentsFranklin Rooseveltregarding Latin America andDwight Eisenhowerregarding welfare programs. A member of the wealthyRockefeller family, he was also a noted art collector, as well as administrator of Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller, aRepublican, was often considered politicallyliberalandprogressive,[1]or in other casesmoderate. He successfully altered the political platform of the Republican Party just before the 1960 Republican Convention in what is termed theTreaty of Fifth Avenue. In his time, liberals in the Republican Party were called \"Rockefeller Republicans\". As Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973 his achievements included the expansion of theState University of New York, efforts to protect the Environment, the building of theGovernor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State PlazainAlbany, increased facilities and personnel for medical care, and creation of the New York State Council on the Arts.

After unsuccessfully seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968, he served as Vice President from 1974 to 1977 under PresidentGerald R. Ford. Ford ascended to the presidency following the August 1974 resignation ofRichard Nixonover theWatergate Scandal, and Ford selected Rockefeller as his replacement, only the second vice president to be appointed under the provisions of the25th Amendment, Ford having been the first. However, Rockefeller did not join the 1976 Republican national ticket with President Ford, marking his retirement from politics.

As a businessman he was President and later Chairman of Rockefeller Center, Inc., and he formed the International Basic Economy Corporation in 1947. Rockefeller assembled a significant art collection and promoted public access to the arts. He served as trustee, treasurer, and president, of theMuseum of Modern Art, and founded theMuseum of Primitive Artin 1954. In the area of philanthropy, he established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development in 1946, and with his four brothers he founded theRockefeller Brothers Fundin 1940 and helped guide it.

Early life and education[edit]See also:Rockefeller family

Rockefeller was born in 1908 inBar Harbor, Maine. He was the second son of financier and philanthropistJohn Davison Rockefeller Jr.and philanthropist and socialiteAbigail Greene \"Abby\" Aldrich. He had a sister,Abby(1903–76); and four brothers:John andDavid(born 1915). Their father John Jr. was the only son ofStandard Oilco-founderJohn Davison Rockefeller Sr.and schoolteacherLaura Celestia \"Cettie\" Spelman. Their mother Abby was a daughter of SenatorNelson Wilmarth Aldrichand Abigail Pearce Truman \"Abby\" Chapman. Rockefeller received his elementary, middle and high school education at theLincoln School, an experimental school administered by Teachers College ofColumbia University. In 1930 he graduatedcum laudewith an A.B. ineconomicsfromDartmouth College, where he was a member ofCasque and Gauntlet(a senior society),Phi Beta Kappa, and the Zeta chapter of thePsi Upsilon.

Early business career[edit]

Following his graduation, he worked in a number of family-related businesses, including Chase National bank (later Chase Manhattan), 1931;Rockefeller Center, Inc., joining the board of directors in 1931, serving as president, 1938–45 and 1948–51, and as chairman, 1945–53 and 1956–58; andCreole Petroleum, theVenezuelansubsidiary ofStandard Oil of New Jersey, 1935–40. From 1932 to 1979 he served as a trustee of theMuseum of Modern Art, where he also served as treasurer, 1935–39, and president, 1939–41 and 1946–53. He and his four brothers established theRockefeller Brothers Fund, a philanthropy, in 1940, where he served as trustee, 1940–75 and 1977–79, and as president in 1956. Rockefeller was a patient of famous psychicEdgar Cayce.[2]

Early public career[edit]

Rockefeller served as a member of the Westchester County (NY) Board of Health, 1933–53. His service with Creole Petroleum led to his deep, lifelong interest inLatin America. He became fluent in theSpanish language. In 1940, after he expressed his concern toPresident Franklin D. RooseveltoverNaziinfluence in Latin America, the President appointed him to the new position of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) in theOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs(OCIAA).[3]Rockefeller was charged with overseeing a program of U.S. cooperation with the nations of Latin America to help raise the standard of living, to achieve better relations among the nations of the western hemisphere, and to counter rising Nazi influence in the region.[4]

In this period, the Roosevelt administration adopted a \"Good Neighbor Policy\" and encouraged Hollywood to produce films to encourage positive relations with Latin America.[5]Rockefeller required changes in the movieDown Argentine Way(1940) because it was considered offensive to Argentines. It was much more popular in the United States than in Latin America.Charlie Chaplin\'s satiricalThe Great Dictator(1940) was banned in several countries.[6]

In the spring of 1943, Rockefeller supported extensive negotiations and mission of North American members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce to Latin America as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs of the US\' State Department, establishing the Junior Chamber International after its first Inter-American Congress in December 1944 at Mexico City. After coming back from the Inter-American Congress, Nelson Rockefeller convinced his father, John D. Rockefeller Jr., to donate the land to the city of New York in order to build the foundations of what would become later the United Nations\' Headquarter.[citation needed]

In 1944, President Roosevelt appointed Rockefeller Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs. As Assistant Secretary of State, he initiated the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace in 1945. The conference produced the Act of Chapultepec, which provided the framework for economic, social and defense cooperation among the nations of the Americas, and set the principle that an attack on one of these nations would be regarded as an attack on all and jointly resisted. Rockefeller signed the Act on behalf of the United States.[7]

Rockefeller was a member of the U.S. delegation at theUnited NationsConference on International Organization atSan Franciscoin 1945; this gathering marked the UN\'s founding. At the Conference there was considerable opposition to the idea of permitting, within the UN charter, the formation of regional pacts such as the Act of Chapultepec. Rockefeller, who believed that the inclusion was essential, especially to U.S. policy in Latin America, successfully urged the need for regional pacts within the framework of the UN.[8]Rockefeller was also instrumental in persuading the UN to establish its headquarters in New York City.[9]

Nelson Rockefeller, Under Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, makes a presentation on a proposed public/private health reinsurance program, 1954.

President Truman fired Rockefeller,[10]reversed his policies, and shut down the OCIAA.[11]Reich says that in official Washington, Rockefeller had become \"a discredited figure, a pariah.\" He returned to New York.[12]

Returns to New York[edit]

Back in the metropolis in mid-1945, Rockefeller served as Chairman of Rockefeller Center, Inc., (1945–53 and 1956–58) and began a program of physical expansion. He established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA), in 1946, and the International Basic Economy Corporation (IBEC), in 1947 to jointly continue the work he had begun as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. He intermittently served as president of both through 1958. AIA was a philanthropy for the dissemination of technical and managerial expertise and equipment to underdeveloped countries to support grass-roots efforts in overcoming illiteracy, disease and poverty.[13]IBEC was a for-profit business that established companies that would stimulate underdeveloped economies of certain countries. It was hoped the success of these companies would encourage investors in those countries to set up competing or supporting businesses and further stimulate the local economy.[14]Using AIA and IBEC Rockefeller established model farms inVenezuela,Ecuador, andBrazil. He maintained a home at Monte Sacro, the farm in Venezuela.[15]

Returns to public service[edit]

Rockefeller returned to public service in 1950 when PresidentHarry S. Trumanappointed him Chairman of the International Development Advisory Board. The Board was charged with developing a plan for implementing the President\'sPoint IVprogram of providing foreign technical assistance. In 1952 President-ElectDwight D. Eisenhowerasked Rockefeller to Chair the President\'sAdvisory Committee on Government Organizationto recommend ways of improving efficiency and effectiveness of the executive branch of the federal government. Rockefeller recommended thirteen reorganization plans, all of which were implemented. The plans implemented organizational changes in the Department of Defense, the Office of Defense Mobilization and the Department of Agriculture. His recommendations also led to the creation of theDepartment of Health, Education and Welfare. Rockefeller was appointed Under-Secretary of this new department in 1953. Rockefeller was active inHEW\'s legislative program and implemented measures that added ten million people under the Social Security program.[16]

In 1954 he was appointed Special Assistant to the President for Foreign Affairs (sometimes referred to as Special Assistant to the President for Psychological Warfare). He was tasked with providing the President with advice and assistance in developing programs by which the various departments of the government could counterSovietforeign policy challenges. As part of this responsibility he was named as the President\'s representative on theOperations Coordinating Board, a committee of theNational Security Council. The other members were the Undersecretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the director of the Foreign Operations Administration, and theCentral Intelligence Agencydirector. The OCB\'s purpose was to oversee coordinated execution of security policy and plans, including clandestine operations.[17]

Rockefeller broadly interpreted his directive and became an advocate for foreign economic aid as indispensable to national security. Most of Rockefeller\'s initiatives were blocked by Secretary of StateJohn Foster Dullesand his Under Secretary,Herbert Hoover Jr., both traditionalists who resented what they perceived as outside interference from Rockefeller,[18]and by Treasury SecretaryGeorge M. Humphreyfor financial reasons.[19]However, in June 1955 Rockefeller convened a week-long meeting of experts from various disciplines to assess the U.S. position in the psychological aspects of theCold Warand develop proposals that could give the U.S. the initiative at the upcoming Summit Conference inGeneva. The meeting was held at the Marine Corps school atQuantico, Virginia, and became known as the Quantico Study. The Quantico panel developed a proposal called \"open skies\" wherein the U.S. and the Soviet Union would exchange blueprints of military installations and agree to mutual aerial reconnaissance. Thus military buildups would be revealed and the danger of surprise attacks minimized. It was a counter proposal to the Soviet proposal of universal disarmament. The feeling was that the Soviets could not refuse the proposal if they were serious about disarmament.[20]

In March 1955 Rockefeller proposed the creation of thePlanning Coordination Group, a small high level group that would plan and develop national security operations, both overt and covert.[21]The group consisted of the Undersecretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the director theCIA, and Special Assistant Rockefeller as chairman. The group\'s purpose was to oversee CIA operation and other anti-communist actions. However, State Department officials and CIA DirectorAllen Dullesrefused to cooperate with the group and its initiatives were stymied or ignored.[22]In September Rockefeller recommended the abolishment of the PCG, and in December he resigned as Special Assistant to the President.

Vice President Nelson Rockefeller (right) with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, January 3, 1975.

In 1956, he created theSpecial Studies Project, a major seven-panel planning group directed byHenry Kissingerand funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, of which he was then president. It was an ambitious study created to define the central problems and opportunities facing the U.S. in the future, and to clarify national purposes and objectives. The reports were published individually as they were released and were republished together in 1961 asProspect for America: The Rockefeller Panel Reports.

The Special Studies Project came into national prominence with the early release of its military subpanel\'s report, whose principal recommendation was a massive military buildup to counter a then-perceived military superiority threat posed by theUSSR. The report was released two months after the October 1957 launch ofSputnik, and its recommendations were fully endorsed by Eisenhower in his January 1958State of the Unionaddress.[23]

This initial contact with Kissinger was to develop into a lifelong relationship; Kissinger was later to be described as his closest intellectual associate. From this period Rockefeller employed Kissinger as a personally funded part-time consultant, principally on foreign policy issues, until the appointment to his staff became full-time in late 1968. In 1969, when Kissinger enteredRichard Nixon\'s administration, Rockefeller paid him $50,000 as a severance payment.[24]

Governor of New York, 1959–1973[edit]Gov. Rockefeller meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968

Rockefeller resigned from the Federal government in 1956 to focus on New York State and on national politics. From September 1956 to April 1958 he chaired the Temporary State Commission on the Constitutional Convention. That was followed by his chairmanship of the Special Legislative Committee on the Revision and Simplification of the Constitution. Inthe state election of 1958, he was electedgovernor of New Yorkby over 600,000 votes, defeating the incumbent, multi-millionaireW. Averell Harriman, even though 1958 was a banner year forDemocratselsewhere in the nation. Rockefeller was ultimately elected to four, four-year terms as governor. Re-elected inelections of 1962,of 1966andof 1970, Rockefeller vastly increased the state\'s role in education, Environmental protection, transportation, housing, welfare, medical aid, civil rights, and the arts. He resigned three years into his fourth term to work at the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans.

Education[edit]

Rockefeller was the driving force in turning theState University of New Yorkinto the largest system of public higher education in the United States. Under his governorship it grew from 29 campuses and 38,000 full-time students to 72 campuses and 232,000 full-time students. Other accomplishments included more than quadrupling state aid to primary and secondary schools; providing the first state financial support for educational television; and requiring special education for children with disabilities in public schools.[25]

Conservation[edit]

Consistent with his personal interest in design and planning, Rockefeller began expansion of theNew York State Parkssystem and improvement of park facilities. He persuaded voters to approve three major bond acts to raise more than $300 million for acquisition of park and forest preserve land[26]and he built or started 55 new state parks.[27]Rockefeller initiated studies of Environmental issues, such as loss of agricultural land through development—an issue now characterized as \"sprawl.\" In September 1968, Rockefeller appointed the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of theAdirondacks. This led to his introduction to the Legislature in 1971 of a bill to create the controversialAdirondack Park Agency,[28]which was designed to protect the Adirondack State Park from encroaching development. Also, he launched the Pure Waters Program, the first state bond issue to end water pollution; created the Department of Environmental Conservation; bannedDDTand otherpesticides; and established theOffice of Parks and style=\"FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: rgb(37,37,37); FONT-STYLE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; WIDOWS: 2; MARGIN: 0.5em 0px; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal\">In 1967 Rockefeller won approval of the largest state bond issue at the time ($2.5 billion) for the coordinated development of mass transportation, highways and airports. He initiated the creation or expansion of over 22,000 miles (35,000km) of highway[30]including theLong Island Expressway, theSouthern Tier Expressway, theAdirondack Northway, andInterstate 81which vastly improved road transportation in the state of New York. Rockefeller introduced the state\'s first support for mass transportation. He reformed the governance ofNew York City\'s transportation system, creating theNew York Metropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) in 1965. The MTA merged theNew York City subway systemwith the publicly ownedTriborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, theLong Island Rail Road,Staten Island Rapid Transit, and later theMetro North Railroad, along with the newly created MTA Bus Company, which were purchased by the state from private owners in a massive public bailout of bankrupt railroads and struggling private bus companies located in Queens, NY. He also created the State Department of Transportation.

In taking over control of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, Rockefeller shifted power away fromRobert Moses, and in doing so became the first politician to win such a battle with the master builder Moses in decades. Under the New York MTA, toll revenue collected from the bridges and tunnels, which had previously been used to build more bridges, tunnels, and highways, now went to supportmass transportationoperations, thus shifting costs from general state funds to the motorist. In one controversial move, Rockefeller abandoned one of Moses\'s most desired projects, aLong Island Soundbridge fromRyetoOyster Bay, in 1973 due to Environmental opposition.

Housing[edit]

To create more low-income housing, Rockefeller created the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC), with unprecedented powers to override localzoning,condemn property, and create financing schemes to carry out desired development. The financing involved the creation of a new sort of bond—what came to be called \"moral obligation\" bonds. They were not backed by the full faith and credit of the State, but the quasi-public arrangements were meant to, and did, convey the impression that the State would not let them fail. Rockefeller is criticized in some quarters for having contributed to the \"Too Big To Fail\" phenomenon in U.S. finance in general.[31](UDC is now called theEmpire State Development Corporation.) By 1973, the Rockefeller administration had completed or started over 88,000 units of housing for limited income families and the aging.[32]

Welfare and Medicaid[edit]

In the area of public assistance the Rockefeller administration carried out the largest state medical care program for the needy in the United States underMedicaid; achieved the first major decline in New York State\'s welfare rolls since World War II; required employable welfare recipients to take available jobs or job training; began the state breakfast program for children in low income areas; and established the first state loan fund for nonprofit groups to start day-care centers.[30]

Civil rights[edit]

Rockefeller achieved virtual total prohibition of discrimination in housing and places of public accommodation. He outlawed job discrimination based on gender or age; increased by nearly 50% the number of African Americans and Hispanics holding state jobs; appointed women to head the largest number of state agencies in state history; prohibited discrimination against women in education, employment, housing and credit applications; admitted the first women to the State Police; initiated affirmative action programs for women in state government; and backed New York\'s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He outlawed \"block-busting\" as a means of artificially depressing housing values and banned discrimination in the sale of all forms of insurance.[33]

The arts[edit]

Rockefeller created the first State Council on the Arts in the country, which became a model for the National Endowment for the Arts. He also oversaw the construction of theSaratoga Performing Arts Centerin Saratoga Spa State Park.[34]

Crime[edit]

During his fifteen years as governor Rockefeller doubled the size of the state police, established the New York State Police Academy, adopted the \"stop and frisk\" and \"no-knock\" laws to strengthen police powers, and authorized 228 additional state judgeships to reduce court congestion.[35]New York was the last state to have a mandatory death penalty for premeditated first degree murder. In 1963 Rockefeller signed legislation abandoning that and establishing a two-stage trial for murder cases with punishment determined in the second stage.[36]Rockefeller was a supporter ofcapital punishmentand oversaw 14executionsbyelectrocutionas governor.[37]The last execution, ofEddie Maysin 1963, remains to date the last execution in New York and was the last execution beforeFurman v. Georgiain the Northeast.[38]However, despite his personal support for capital punishment, Rockefeller signed a bill in 1965 to abolish the death penalty except in cases involving the murder of police officers.[39]

Rockefeller was also a supporter of the \"law and order\" platform.[40]

Tough laws on drug users[edit]

What became known as the \"Rockefeller drug laws\" were a product of Rockefeller\'s attempt to deal with the rapid increase in narcotics addiction and related crime. In 1962, he proposed a program of voluntary rehabilitation for addicted convicts rather than prison time. This was approved by the legislature, but by 1966 it was evident that this program was not working, as most addicts chose short prison terms rather than three years of treatment. Rockefeller then turned to a program of compulsory treatment, rehabilitation, and aftercare for three years. While this program saw success in rehabilitating addicts, it did little to reduce the narcotics trade and associated crime. Rockefeller was also frustrated believing that the federal government was not doing anything significant to address the problem. Feeling that existing laws and the way they were being implemented did not solve the problem of the \"drug pusher\", and pressured by voters angry about the drug problem, Rockefeller proposed a hard-line approach. As approved by the legislature in 1973, the new drug laws included mandatory life sentences without the possibility of plea-bargaining or parole for all drug users, dealers, and those convicted of drug-related violent crimes; a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of drug pushers; and deleting less harsh penalties for youthful offenders. Public support for the measures was mixed, as were the results. They did not lead more addicts to seek rehabilitation as hoped, and ultimately did not solve the problem of drug trafficking. These were among the toughest drug laws in the United States when they were enacted and are still on the books, albeit in moderated form.[41]To carry out the rehabilitation program Rockefeller created the State Narcotics Addiction Control Commission (later the State Drug Abuse Control Commission.) New York also provided the financial support for research in methadone maintenance and the administration of the largestmethadonemaintenance program in the US.[35]

Attica prison riot[edit]Main article:Attica Prison riot

On September 9, 1971, prisoners at the state penitentiary at Attica, NY, took control of a cell block and seized thirty-nine correctional officers as hostages. After four days of negotiations, Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Russell Oswald agreed to most of the inmates\' demands for various reforms but refused to grant completeamnestyto the rioters, with passage out of the country and removal of the prison\'s superintendent. When negotiations stalled and the hostages appeared to be in imminent danger, Rockefeller orderedNew York State Policeandnational guardtroops to restore order and take back the prison on September 13. Thirty nine people died in the assault, including ten of the hostages. An additional eighty people were wounded in what was called \"a turkey shoot\" by state prosecutor Malcolm Bell.[42]

A later investigation showed all but three of the deaths were caused by the gunfire of the National Guard and police. The other three were inmates killed by other inmates at the beginning of the riot. Opponents blamed Rockefeller for these deaths in part because of his refusal to go to the prison and talk with the inmates, while his supporters, including many conservatives who had often vocally differed with him in the past, defended his actions as being necessary to the preservation of law and order. \"I was trying to do the best I could to save the hostages, save the prisoners, restore order, and preserve our system without undertaking actions which could set a precedent which would go across this country like wildfire,\" Rockefeller later said.[43]

In a telephone call with PresidentNixon, Rockefeller explained the deaths by saying \"that\'s life.\"[44]

Buildings and public works programs[edit]

Rockefeller engaged in massive building projects that left a profound mark on the state of New York. (Some of his detractors claimed that he had an \"Edifice Complex.\"[45]) He was personally interested in the planning, design, and construction of the many projects initiated during his administration, consistent with his interest in architecture. In addition, Rockefeller\'s construction programs included the US$2 billion South Mall inAlbany, later renamed the Nelson A. RockefellerEmpire State Plazaby Gov. Hugh Carey in 1978. It is a 98-acre (40ha) campus of skyscrapers housing state offices and public plazas punctuated by an egg-shaped arts center. While in office he supported the construction of the World Trade Center.[46]

Other programs[edit]

Rockefeller worked with the legislature and unions to create generous pension programs for many public workers, such as teachers, professors, firefighters, police officers, and prison guards. He proposed the first statewideminimum wagelaw in the U.S. which was increased five times during his administration. Additional accomplishments of Rockefeller\'s fifteen years as governor of New York include initiating the state lottery and off-track betting; adopting modern treatment techniques in state mental hospitals to reduce the number of mentally ill patients by over 50%; creating the State Office of the Aging and constructing nearly 12,000 units of housing for the aging; the first mandatory seatbelt law in the US; and creating the State Consumer Protection Board.[47]

Abortion[edit]

Rockefeller supported reform of New York\'sabortionlaws beginning around 1968. The proposals supported by his administration would not have repealed the long-standing prohibition, but would have expanded the exceptions allowed for the protection of the mother\'s health, or in circumstances offetal abnormality.

The reform bills did not pass. However, when an outright repeal of the prohibition managed to pass in 1970, Rockefeller signed it. In 1972, he vetoed another bill that would have restored the abortion ban. He said in his 1972 veto message, \"I do not believe it right for one group to impose its vision of morality on an entire society.\"[48]

TheRoe v. Wadeabortion decision came on January 22, 1973; it was based partly on New York\'s law.[citation needed]

Moderate Republican[edit]Main article:Rockefeller Republican

Reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to problem solving Rockefeller took a pragmatic approach to governing. In their bookRockefeller of New York: Executive Power in the State House, Robert Connery and Gerald Benjamin state, \"Rockefeller was not committed to any ideology. Rather, he considered himself a practical problem solver, much more interested in defining problems and finding solutions around which he could unite support sufficient to ensure their enactment in legislation than in following either a strictly liberal or strictly conservative course. Rockefeller\'s programs did not consistently follow either liberal or conservative ideology.\" Early fiscal policies were conservative while later ones were not so. In the later years of his administration \"conservative decisions on social programs were paralleled by liberal ones on Environmental issues.\"[49]Rockefeller was opposed by conservatives in the GOP such as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan because of his liberal political views. As governor, Rockefeller spent more than his predecessors.[50]Rockefeller expanded the state\'sinfrastructure, increased spending on education including a massive expansion of the State University of New York, and increased the state\'s involvement in Environmental issues. Rockefeller had good relations with unions, especially the construction trades, which benefited from his extensive building programs.

In foreign affairs, Rockefeller supported U.S. involvement in theUnited Nationsas well as U.S. foreign aid. He also supported the U.S.\'s fight against communism and its membership inNATO. As a result of Rockefeller\'s policies, some conservatives sought to gain leverage by creating theConservative Party of New York. The small party acted as a minor counterweight to theLiberal Party of New York.[51]The most common criticism of Rockefeller\'s governorship of New York is that he tried to do too much too fast, vastly increasing the level of state debt which later contributed to New York\'s fiscal crisis in 1975.[52]Rockefeller created some 230 public-benefit authorities like the Urban Development Corporation. They were often used to issue bonds in order to avoid the requirement of a vote of the people for the issuance of a bond; such authority-issued bonds bore higher interest than if they had been issued directly by the state. The state budget went from $2.04 billion in 1959–60 to $8.8 billion in his last year, 1973–74. \"Rockefeller sought and obtained eight tax increases during his fifteen years in office.\"[53]\"During his administration, the tax burden rose to a higher level than in any other state, and the incidence of taxation shifted, with a greater share being borne by the individual taxpayer.\"[54]

National politics[edit]Nelson Rockefeller at the1976 Republican National Conventionalong with (left to right)Robert Dole,Nancy Reagan,Ronald Reagan,Gerald Ford,Susan FordandBetty Ford.

Rockefeller sought the Republicanpresidential nominationin 1960, 1964, and 1968. His offer in the1960 primaryended early when then-Vice PresidentRichard Nixonsurged ahead in the polls. After quitting the campaign, Rockefeller backed Nixon and concentrated his efforts on introducing more moderate planks into Nixon\'s platform.

Rockefeller, as the leader of the Republicans\' \"Eastern Establishment,\" began as the front-runner for the1964 nominationagainst conservative SenatorBarry Goldwaterof Arizona, who led theright wingof the Republican Party.[55][56]In 1963, a year after Rockefeller\'s divorce from his first wife, he marriedMargaretta \"Happy\" Murphy, a divorcee with four children, which alienated many Republican married women. The divorce was widely condemned by politicians, such as liberal SenatorPrescott Bushof Connecticut, who condemned his infidelity, divorce, and remarriage. Rockefeller finished third in theNew Hampshire primaryin March, behind write-inHenry Cabot Lodge II(from neighboring Massachusetts) and Goldwater. He then endured poor showings in several more of theparty primariesbefore winning an upset in Oregon in May. Rockefeller took a strong lead in the California primary, and his team seemed so assured of his victory that it cut advertising funds in the last days of his campaign. However, the birth of Rockefeller\'s child three days before the California primary put the divorce and remarriage issue back in the minds of voters, and on primary election day, Rockefeller narrowly lost the California primary and dropped out of the race. At a discouraging point in the 1964 California primary campaign against Goldwater, his top political aideStuart Spencercalled on Rockefeller to \"summon that fabled nexus of money, influence, and condescension known as the Eastern Establishment. \'You are looking at it, buddy,\' Rockefeller told Spencer, \'I am all that is left.\'\".[57]Rockefeller exaggerated, but the collapse of his wing of the party was underway.[58]

However, at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco in July, Rockefeller was given five minutes to speak before the convention in defense of five amendments to the party platform put forth by the moderate wing of the Republican Party[59]to counter the Goldwater plank. He was booed and heckled for sixteen minutes while he stood firmly at the podium insisting on his right to speak.[60]However, Goldwater supporters claimed that the booing was from not the convention floor but the gallery. Rockefeller was reluctant to support Goldwater in the general election.[61]The conflict between Rockefeller and Goldwater would have lasting effects as Goldwater would subsequently vote against Rockefeller\'s confirmation for the Vice Presidency in 1974 and then as a key player in blocking Rockefeller from being on the 1976 presidential ticket.

Rockefeller again sought the presidential nomination in the1968 primaries. His opponents were Nixon and GovernorRonald Reaganof California. In the contest, Rockefeller again represented the liberals, Reagan representing the conservatives, and Nixon representing moderates and liberals also. Rather than formally announce his candidacy and enter the state primaries, Rockefeller spent the first half of 1968, alternating between hints that he would run and pronouncements that he would not be a candidate. Shortly before the Republican convention, Rockefeller finally let it be known that he was available to be the nominee, and he sought to round up uncommitted delegates and woo reluctant Nixon delegates to his banner, armed with public opinion polls that showed him doing better among voters than either Nixon or Reagan against DemocratHubert Humphrey. Despite Rockefeller\'s efforts, Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot.

AfterGerald Ford\'s elevation to the Presidency, Rockefeller was named Vice President. He played a ceremonial role with no scope for his energies. Rockefeller was not a candidate for a full term in 1976, and Ford selectedBob Doleas his running mate.[62]

Presidential Mission to Latin America[edit]

Because the perception was that theAlliance for Progresswas a failure, shortly after taking office, on February 17, 1969, PresidentRichard Nixoncommissioned a study to assess the state of Latin America. Nixon appointed his most powerful political rival, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to direct the study. The poor relationship between the two politicians suggested that Nixon would not be that interested in the results of the study. There was a lack of interest for the region in the late 1960s to early 1970s.[63]

In April and May 1969, at the request of President Nixon, Rockefeller and a team of 23 advisors visited 20 American republics during four trips to solicit opinions of U.S. inter-American policies and to determine the needs and conditions of each country. Most of the trips turned out to be an embarrassment. Among the recommendations in Rockefeller\'s report to the President were preferential trade agreements with Latin American countries, refinancing the region\'s foreign debt, and removing bureaucratic impediments that prevented the efficient use of U.S. aid. The Nixon administration did little to implement the report\'s recommendations.[64]Rockefeller wrote in his report preface that,

There is general frustration over the failure to achieve a more rapid improvement in standards of living. The United States, because of its identification with the failure of the Alliance for Progress to live up to expectations, is blamed. People in the countries concerned also used our visit as an opportunity to demonstrate their frustrations with the failure of their own governments to meet their needs...demonstrations that began over grievances were taken over and exacerbated by anti-US and subversive elements which sought to weaken the United States, and their own governments in the process.[63]

The major part of the Rockefeller report suggested a reduction of U.S. involvement, \"we, in the United States, cannot determine the internal political structure of any other nation\". Because there was little the United States should or could do toward changing the political atmosphere in other countries, there was no reason to attempt to use economic aid as a political tool. This was the justification to reduce economic aid in Latin America. The Rockefeller report called for some aid to continue, but the report recommended creating more effective aid programs.[63]

National Commission on Water Quality[edit]

In May 1973 President Nixon appointed Rockefeller chairman of the National Commission on Water Quality, charged with determining the technological, economic, social and Environmental implications of meeting water quality standards mandated by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. The Commission issued its report in March 1976 and he testified before Congress on its findings. He served until July 1976.

Commission on Critical Choices for Americans[edit]Vice President Nelson Rockefeller addresses a meeting of the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans, February 28, 1975.

In November 1973, Rockefeller worked with former Delaware GovernorRussell W. Petersonto establish the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans, and served as chairman until December 1974.[65]The Commission was a private study project on national and international policy similar to the Special Studies Project he led 15 years earlier. It was made up of a nationally representative, bipartisan group of 42 prominent Americans drawn from far-ranging fields of interest who served on a voluntary basis. Members included the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress. The Commission gathered information and insights to better understand the problems facing America, and to present to the American public the \"critical choices\" to be made in facing those problems. He resigned as Governor of New York in December 1973, devoting himself to his new commission and the possibility of another presidential run.

Vice Presidency 1974–1977[edit]

Upon President Nixon\'s resignation on August 9, 1974, Vice PresidentGerald Fordassumed the presidency and on August 20 he nominated Rockefeller to be the nextVice President of the United States. In considering potential nominees, Rockefeller was one of three primary candidates. The other two were then-United States Ambassador to NATODonald Rumsfeld, whom Ford eventually chose as his Chief of Staff, and then-Republican National CommitteeChairmanGeorge Bush, who would eventually become Vice President in his own right.

Vice President Rockefeller meets with President Ford in the Oval Office, March 12, 1975.

This was not the first time that Rockefeller was under consideration for vice president. He was on President Nixon\'s short list to replaceSpiro Agnewin 1973 but, Nixon ultimately selected Ford. Rockefeller had also declined to become Nixon\'s running mate in the 1960 presidential election.

While acknowledging that many conservatives opposed Rockefeller, Ford believed he would bring executive expertise to the administration and broaden the ticket\'s appeal if they ran in 1976, given Rockefeller\'s ability to attract support from constituencies that did not typically support Republicans, including organized labor,African Americans,Hispanics, and city dwellers. Ford also felt he could demonstrate his own self-confidence by selecting a strong personality like Rockefeller for the number two spot.[66]Although he had said he was \"just not built for standby equipment\",[67]Rockefeller accepted the President\'s request to serve as vice president:

It was entirely a question of there being a Constitutional crisis and a crisis of confidence on the part of the American people..... I felt there was a duty incumbent on any American who could do anything that would contribute to a restoration of confidence in the democratic process and in the integrity of government.

Rockefeller was also persuaded by Ford\'s promise to make him \"a full partner\" in his presidency, especially in domestic policy.[68]

Rockefeller underwent extended hearings before Congress, suffering embarrassment when it was revealed he made massive gifts to senior aides, such asHenry Kissinger, and used his personal fortune to finance a scurrilous biography of political opponentArthur Goldberg(See Peter CarrollIt Seemed Like Nothing Happened, p.162). He had also taken debatable deductions on his federal income taxes, and ultimately agreed to pay nearly one million dollars to settle the issue, but no illegalities were uncovered, and he was confirmed. Although conservative Republicans were not pleased that Rockefeller was picked, most of them voted for his confirmation. However, some, includingBarry Goldwater,Jesse Helms,Trent Lott, and others voted against him.[69]Many conservative groups campaigned against Rockefeller\'s nomination, including the National Right to Life Committee, the American Conservative Union, and others. The New York Conservative Party also opposed his confirmation. On the left, Americans for Democratic Action opposed Rockefeller\'s confirmation because it said his wealth posed too much of a conflict of interest.[70]

Vice President Rockefeller bust from the Senate collectionIn 1975, Vice President Rockefeller desired to modify the seal and Flag of theVice President.

Beginning his service upon taking the oath of office on December 19, 1974, Rockefeller was the second person appointed vice president under the25th Amendment—the first being Ford himself. Rockefeller often seemed concerned that Ford gave him little or no power, and few tasks, while he was vice president. Ford initially said he wanted Rockefeller to chair theDomestic Policy Council. But Ford\'s new White House staff had no intention of sharing power with the vice president and his staff.[71]

Rockefeller\'s attempt to take charge of domestic policy was thwarted by Chief of Staff Rumsfeld, who objected to policy makers reporting to the president through the vice president. When Rockefeller had one of his former aides, James Cannon, appointed executive director of the Domestic Council, Rumsfeld cut its budget. Rockefeller was excluded from the decision making process on many important issues. When he learned that Ford had proposed cuts in federal taxes and spending he responded: \"This is the most important move the president has made, and I wasn\'t even consulted.\"[72]Nevertheless, Ford appointed him to the Commission on the Organization of Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy, and appointed him Chairman of theCommission on CIA Activities within the United States, the National Commission on Productivity, the Federal Compensation Committee, and the Committee on the Right to Privacy. Ford also put Rockefeller in charge of his \"Whip Inflation Now\" initiative.

While Rockefeller was Vice President, the official vice presidential residence was established atNumber One Observatory Circleon the grounds of theUnited States Naval Observatory. This residence had previously been the residence of theChief of Naval Operations. Previous vice presidents had been responsible for maintaining their own homes at their own expense, but the necessity of full-timeSecret Servicesecurity had made this custom impractical. Rockefeller already had a well-secured Washington residence and never lived in the home as a principal residence, although he did host several official functions there. His wealth enabled him to donate millions of dollars of furnishings to the house.

Vice President Rockefeller (right) and his wifeHappy(second on left) entertain PresidentGerald R. Ford(left) his wifeBetty(second on right) and their daughterSusan(center) atNumber One Observatory Circleon September 7, 1975.

Rockefeller was slow to make use ofAir Force Two, the official vice-presidential aircraft. Instead, he continued to use his ownGulfstream(which had the callsignExecutive Twoas a private aircraft). Rockefeller felt he was saving taxpayer money this way. Finally the Secret Service convinced him it was costing more to fly agents around separately for his protective detail than it would for him to travel on Air Force Two with them.[73]

On May 13, 1976 Vice President Rockefeller visited theearthquake-stricken areas ofFriuliinItaly(nearAviano Air Base) and presented an important donation to the local population.

1976 election[edit]

With the moderate Ford facing continued difficulty in securing the support of conservative Republicans for the 1976 presidential nomination, and anticipating a challenge from the conservativeRonald Reagan, he considered the possibility of another running mate, and discussed it with Rockefeller. In November 1975 Rockefeller offered to withdraw. Ford eventually concurred, and in explaining his decision Rockefeller said that he \"didn\'t come down (to Washington) to get caught up in party squabbles which only make it more difficult for the President in a very difficult time.....\"[74][75]

After Ford was nominated at the1976 Republican National Convention, Reagan,Barry Goldwater, and other prominent conservatives conditioned their support for Ford on his selection of a suitable vice presidential nominee. Ford considered several candidates, including moderate-to-liberal Republicans such asWilliam Ruckelshaus, and moderate-to-conservative Republicans includingBob Dole, and eventually decided upon Dole as the most acceptable to conservatives.

As of 2016, Ford is the last incumbent president to not have his incumbent vice president as his running mate. Ford later said not choosing Rockefeller was one of his biggest mistakes,[76]and \"one of the few cowardly things I did in my life.\"[77]

Rockefeller campaigned actively for the Republican ticket, and Ford lost narrowly toJimmy Carter. In what would become an iconic photo of the 1976 campaign, Rockefeller famously responded to hecklers at a rally inBinghamton, New Yorkwith araised middle finger.[78]\"At the time, Rockefeller\'s finger flashing was scandalous. Writing about the moment 20 years later, Michael Oricchio of theSan Jose Mercury Newssaid the action became known euphemistically as \'the Rockefeller gesture\'.\"[78]

On January 10, 1977, Ford presented Rockefeller with thePresidential Medal of Freedom.[79]

Art patronage[edit]

Rockefeller served as a trustee of theMuseum of Modern Artfrom 1932 to 1979. He also served as treasurer, 1935–1939, and president, 1939–1941 and 1946–1953. In 1933 Rockefeller was a member of the committee selecting art for the newRockefeller Center. For the wall opposite the main entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza Nelson Rockefeller wantedHenri MatisseorPablo Picassoto paint a mural because he favored theirmodern style, but neither was available.Diego Riverawas one of Nelson Rockefeller\'s mother\'s favorite artists and therefore was commissioned to create the huge mural. He was given a theme: New Frontiers. Rockefeller wanted the painting to make people pause and think. Rivera submitted a sketch for a mural entitled \"Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future.\" The sketch featured an anonymous man at the center. However, when it was painted the work caused great controversy due to the inclusion of a painting ofLenin(depictingcommunism) just off-center.[80]The Directors of Rockefeller Center objected and Rockefeller asked Rivera to change the face of Lenin to that of an unknown laborer\'s face as was originally intended, but the painter refused.

The work was paid for on May 22, 1933, and immediately draped. Rockefeller suggested that the fresco could be donated to the Museum of Modern Art, but the trustees of the museum were not interested.[81]People protested but it remained covered until the early weeks of 1934, when it was smashed by workers and hauled away in wheelbarrows. Rivera responded by saying that it was \"cultural vandalism\". At Rockefeller Center in its place is a mural by Jose Maria Sert which includes an image ofAbraham Lincoln. The Rockefeller-Rivera dispute is covered in the filmsCradle Will RockandFrida.

Rockefeller was a noted collector of both modern and non-Western art. During his governorship, New York State acquired major works of art for the new Empire State Plaza in Albany. He continued his mother\'s work at theMuseum of Modern Artas president, and turned the basement of hisKykuitmansion into a gallery while placing works of sculpture around the grounds (an activity he enjoyed personally supervising, frequently moving the pieces from place to place by helicopter). While he was overseeing construction of the State University of New York system, Rockefeller built, in collaboration with his lifelong friendRoy Neuberger, the Neuberger Museum on the campus ofSUNY Purchase College, designed byPhilip Johnson.

He commissioned MasterSantiago Martínez Delgadoto make a canvas mural for the Bank of New York (City Bank) inBogotá, Colombia; this ended up being the last work of the artist, as he died while finishing it.

Rockefeller\'s early visits toMexicokindled a collecting interest in pre-Columbian and contemporary Mexican art, to which he added works of traditional African and Pacific Island art. In 1954 he established theMuseum of Primitive Artdevoted to the indigenous art of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and early Asia and Europe. His personal collection formed the core of the collection. The museum opened to the public in 1957 in a townhouse on West 54th Street inNew York City. In 1969 he gave the museum\'s collection to theMetropolitan Museum of Artwhere it became the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection.

In 1978,Alfred A. Knopfpublished a book on primitive art from Rockefeller\'s collection. Rockefeller, impressed with the work of photographerLee Boltinand editor/publisher Paul Anbinder on the book, co-founded Nelson Rockefeller Publications, Inc. with them, with the goal of publishing fine art books of high quality. After Rockefeller\'s death less than a year later, the company continued as Hudson Hills Press, Inc.

In 1977 he founded Nelson Rockefeller Collection, Inc., (NRC) an art reproduction company that produced and sold licensed reproductions of selected works from Rockefeller\'s collection. In the introduction to the NRC catalog he stated he was motivated by his desire to share with others \"the joy of living with these beautiful objects.\"

Marriages[edit]

On June 23, 1930, Rockefeller marriedMary Todhunter Clark. They had five children:

Rodman Clark Rockefeller
Ann Rockefeller
Steven Clark Rockefeller
Michael Clark Rockefeller[twin]
Mary Rockefeller [twin]

Michael disappeared in New Guinea in November 1961, presumed drowned while trying to swim to shore after his dugout canoe capsized. Nelson and Mary were divorced in 1962.

On May 4, 1963, he marriedMargaretta Large \"Happy\" Fitler. He and his second wife had two sons together:

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Jr.
Mark Fitler Rockefeller

They moved to a penthouse that encompassed the top three floors at810 Fifth Avenue.[82]The apartment was expanded by purchasing a floor of 812 Fifth Avenue. The two spaces connected via a flight of six steps.[83]Nelson and Happy Rockefeller used the entrance at 812 Fifth, while his first wife entered through 810 Fifth.[84]They remained married until his death.

Nelson Rockefeller and PresidentJimmy Carterin October 1977Death[edit]

Rockefeller died on January 26, 1979, at age 70 from aheart attack. An initial report had incorrectly stated that he was at his office atRockefeller Centerworking on a book about his art collection, and a security guard found him slumped over his desk.[85][86]However, the report was soon corrected to state that Rockefeller actually had the fatal heart attack in another office he owned in a townhouse at 13 West54th Streetin the presence ofMegan Marshack, a 25-year-old aide. After the heart attack, Marshack called her friend, news reporter Ponchitta Pierce, to the townhouse, and Pierce phoned an ambulance approximately an hour after the heart attack.[87]There was some speculation in the press regarding the possibility of an intimate relationship between Rockefeller and Marshack. For example, long-time Rockefeller aideJoseph E. Persicosaid in thePBSdocumentary about the Rockefeller family \"It became known that he had been alone with a young woman who worked for him, in undeniably intimate circumstances, and in the course of that evening had died from a heart attack.\"[88]

Rockefeller\'s four oldest children issued a statement saying they had conducted their own review, believed that their father could not have been saved, and that all those who tried to help had acted responsibly. Neither Marshack nor the family has commented since on the circumstances surrounding Rockefeller\'s death.[89]The family however would not consent to anautopsy.[90]

On January 29, 1979, family and close friends gathered to inter Rockefeller\'s ashes in a private Rockefeller family cemetery inSleepy Hollow, New York.[91]His remains had beencrematedatFerncliff Cemeteryin nearbyHartsdale. A memorial service was held atRiverside ChurchinUpper Manhattanon February 2, attended by 2,200 people. Attendees included PresidentJimmy Carter, former PresidentGerald Ford, more than 100 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives including SenatorBarry Goldwater, and official representatives from 71 foreign countries. Eulogies were delivered by two of Rockefeller\'s children, his brotherDavid, and former Secretary of StateHenry style=\"WHITE-SPACE: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT: medium \'Times New Roman\'; LETTER-SPACING: normal; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-stretch: normal\">

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