Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979

<p>Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the third of six children of John D. Rockefeller and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; he was born on July 8, 1908, in Bar Harbor, Maine. He attended the Lincoln School, a division of the Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1930, he graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, with a B.A. in economics. A few days after graduating, he married Mary Todhunter Clark, a marriage that produced five children and a divorce in 1962. The next year, Rockefeller was remarried to Margaretta "Happy" Murphy, with whom he had two sons. In 1940, Rockefeller was appointed as head of a new agency for Latin American affairs. He would stay in Washington for the next five years. He returned to Washington from 1953 to 1955, working on foreign affairs, government reorganization, and public policy under President Dwight Eisenhower. In 1958, Rockefeller was elected Governor of New York and was re-elected three times. As governor, he instated a dramatic growth in state services in the areas of transportation, health and welfare, education, environmental protection, and housing. During his tenure, there were substantial tax increases, and the state operated on a pay-as-you-go basis with a balanced budget. Rockefeller denied interest in running for President in 1960. However, he made it clear that if a nomination was made, he would accept it. Despite his initial rejection of running for President, Rockefeller aspired to run in 1964 but his recent divorce and remarriage caused his public popularity to decline, and he lost the Republican nomination to Senator Barry Goldwater. In 1968, Rockefeller was considered a likely choice for the Republican nomination. However, indecision in his campaign caused him to lose an early foothold, and Richard Nixon won the nomination. The 1968 campaign brought an end to Rockefeller's quest for the presidency.</p>

<p>In 1973, Rockefeller resigned from the governorship and devoted himself to the Commission on Critical Choices for America, which he organized in order to develop national policy alternatives. He returned to the national scene in 1974 when President Gerald Ford nominated him as vice president. After lengthy confirmation hearings, which centered almost exclusively on Rockefeller's sizeable fortune, Congress approved the nomination, and he was sworn in on December 19, 1974. As vice president, he served Ford loyally. He was appointed to head the domestic council and to be chairman of the President's commission on the Central Intelligence Agency ("The Rockefeller Commission"). In the latter role, Rockefeller proved to be a foil to the congressional committees investigating the same abuses, arguing that while what was found was serious, they were not violations of the law. The report issued by the committee ultimately mirrored that of its congressional counterparts, charging the CIA with a myriad of domestic and foreign abuses of power.</p>

<p>An outspoken moderate Republican, Rockefeller was anathema to conservatives, who pushed for his removal on the ticket in 1976. Ford finally succumbed to the pressure, asking Rockefeller to step down in favor of Senator Robert Dole of Kansas. Ever the loyalist, Rockefeller not only stepped down, but campaigned for the ticket. Rockefeller retired back to New York to pursue interests in private business, the arts, and politics. On January 26, 1979, Rockefeller died after suffering a heart attack while working at his office in mid-town Manhattan.</p>

<p>Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and previously as the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He also served as assistant secretary of State for American Republic Affairs for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (1944–1945) as well as under secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A grandson of billionaire John D. Rockefeller and a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.</p>

<p>Rockefeller was a Republican who was often considered to be liberal, progressive, or moderate. In an agreement that was termed the Treaty of Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller persuaded Richard Nixon to alter the Republican Party platform just before the 1960 Republican Convention. In his time, liberals in the Republican Party were called "Rockefeller Republicans". As Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973, Rockefeller's achievements included the expansion of the State University of New York, efforts to protect the environment, the construction of the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany, increased facilities and personnel for medical care, and the creation of the New York State Council on the Arts.</p>

<p>After unsuccessfully seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968, Rockefeller was appointed vice president of the United States under President Gerald R. Ford, who ascended to the presidency following the August 1974 resignation of Richard Nixon. Rockefeller was the second vice president appointed to the position under the 25th Amendment, following Ford himself. Rockefeller was not placed on the 1976 Republican ticket with Ford. He retired from politics in 1977 and died two years later.</p>

<p>As a businessman, Rockefeller was president and later chair 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 the Museum of Modern Art, and founded the Museum of Primitive Art in 1954. In the area of philanthropy, he founded the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1940 with his four brothers and established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development in 1946.</p>

ROCKEFELLER, NELSON ALDRICH, (grandson of Nelson W. Aldrich; uncle of John D. [Jay] Rockefeller IV), a Vice President of the United States; born in Bar Harbor, Hancock County, Maine, July 8, 1908; attended Lincoln School of Teachers' College at Columbia University, New York, N.Y., 1926; graduated, Dartmouth College 1930; engaged in oil, real estate, and banking businesses, and family philanthropic activities; served variously as trustee, treasurer, president, chairman of the board of Museum of Modern Art in New York City 1932-1975; director, Office of Inter-American Affairs 1940-1944; Assistant Secretary of State for Latin-American Affairs 1944-1945; returned to family philanthropic activities and helped establish American International Association; member and chairman of President's Advisory Committee on Government Organization 1953-1958; Under Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1953-1954; Special Assistant to the President for Foreign Affairs 1954-1955; Governor of New York 1959-1973; unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968; nominated by President Gerald R. Ford on August 20, 1974, under the provisions of the twenty-fifth amendment to the Constitution, to be the Forty-first Vice President of the United States; confirmed by the Congress and took the oath of office on December 19, 1974, and served until January 20, 1977, when the term ended; returned to family philanthropic activities and worked extensively on his art collection in New York, N.Y., where he died on January 26, 1979; cremated; ashes interred at the family estate, Pocantico Hills, N.Y.