Nelson Rockefeller

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1908, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Named Nelson Aldrich after his maternal grandfather Nelson W. Aldrich, he was the second son and third child of financier and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and philanthropist and socialite Abigail "Abby" Aldrich. He had two older siblings—Abby and John III—as well as three younger brothers: Laurance, Winthrop, and David. His father, John Jr., was the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller and schoolteacher Laura Spelman. His mother, Abby, was a daughter of Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich and Abigail P. Greene.

Rockefeller grew up in his family's homes in New York City (mainly at 10 West 54th Street), a country home in Pocantico Hills, New York, and a summer home in Seal Harbor, Maine. The family also travelled widely. He received his elementary, middle, and high school education at the Lincoln School in Manhattan, an experimental school administered by Teachers College of Columbia University and funded by the Rockefeller family. Rockefeller was known to disappear on the way to school and was once found exploring the city's sewer system. As a child, he was the "indisputable leader" of his brothers, becoming particularly close to Laurance.

Although his parents saw the potential for Rockefeller to succeed in life, he was a poor student. Generally in the lower third of his class, he almost failed ninth grade and had undiagnosed dyslexia. Biographer Joseph E. Persico wrote that as a child, Rockefeller "demonstrated a discipline that throughout life would serve him in lieu of brilliance". Although Rockefeller was not accepted into Princeton University, he gained admission to Dartmouth College, arriving on campus in 1926. While in college, he met Mary Todhunter Clark at the summer home in Maine, and the two fell in love. They were engaged in autumn 1929. In 1930, he graduated cum laude with an A.B. degree in economics from Dartmouth, where he was a member of Casque and Gauntlet (a senior society), Phi Beta Kappa, and Psi Upsilon. Rockefeller and Mary were married after he graduated, on June 23, 1930, at Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Early career (1931–1939)

Following his graduation, Rockefeller worked in a number of family-related businesses, including Chase National Bank; Rockefeller Center, Inc., joining the board of directors in 1931, serving as president, 1938–1945 and 1948–1951, and as chairman, 1945–1953 and 1956–1958; and Creole Petroleum Corporation, the Venezuelan subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey, 1935–1940. Rockefeller served as a member of the Westchester County Board of Health from 1933 to 1953. His service with Creole Petroleum led to his deep, lifelong interest in Latin America and he became fluent in the Spanish language.

Mid-career (1940–1958)

Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA)

In 1940, after he expressed his concern to President Franklin D. Roosevelt over Nazi influence in Latin America, the President appointed Rockefeller to the new position of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) in the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA). 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. He facilitated this form of cultural diplomacy by collaborating with the director of Latin American Relations at the CBS radio network Edmund A. Chester.

Roosevelt and his cabinet encouraged Hollywood to produce films to encourage positive relations with Latin America. Rockefeller required changes in the movie Down 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 satirical The Great Dictator (1940) was banned in several countries.

In the spring of 1943, Rockefeller supported extensive negotiations and the mission of North American members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce to Latin America as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs of the U.S. 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, Rockefeller convinced his father, John D. Rockefeller Jr., to donate the land to the city of New York to build the foundations of what would later become the United Nations Headquarters.

On June 23, 1930, Rockefeller married Mary Todhunter Clark, a daughter of Percy Hamilton Clark, a noted cricketer, and Elizabeth Williams Clark (née Roberts), of Germantown, Philadelphia. They had five children:

Rodman Clark Rockefeller (1932–2000), businessman and philanthropist, wed firstly to Barbara Ann Olsen, with whom he had four children. He was secondly married to Alexandra (Sascha) von Metzler.

Ann Rockefeller Roberts (1934–2024), author and founder/president of Fund of the Four Directions (a private fund with focus on indigenous people), married firstly to Robert Laughlin Pierson, a clergyman in Newark, New Jersey, from 1952 to 1966, three children. She sought divorce in Juarez, Mexico. She would then secondly marry and divorce Lionel R. Coste Jr., an architect. In 1979, she married thirdly to T. George Harris, of Princeton, New Jersey. She continued to use the maiden name of her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Roberts Clark.

Steven Clark Rockefeller (born 1936), a professor and philanthropist, married three times, four children including Steven Clark Rockefeller Jr.

Mary Rockefeller (born 1938), twin of Michael, married firstly to William J. Strawbridge Jr., with whom she had three children. In 1974, she married secondly to Thomas B. Morgan, press secretary to former Mayor John Lindsay. She is a psychotherapist and author based in Manhattan, New York.

Michael Clark Rockefeller (1938–1961), twin of Mary, who disappeared in New Guinea in November 1961. He is presumed to have drowned while trying to swim to shore after his dugout canoe capsized.

Nelson and Mary Rockefeller were divorced in 1962. On May 4, 1963, Rockefeller married Margaretta Large "Happy" Fitler. She was a daughter of William Wonderly Fitler Jr. and Margaretta Large Fitler (née Harrison). They had two sons together:

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Jr. (born 1964), a serial businessman, alumnus of Dartmouth College, married to Amy K. Taylor. They have a son and a daughter. They were residents of Manhattan and Montclair, New Jersey before moving to Larchmont, New York.

Mark Fitler Rockefeller (born 1967), a businessman, financier and gentleman farmer, married to and divorced from Renee Anne Anisko (born 1968). He served as chairman of Historic Hudson Valley. They jointly own South Fork Lodge, a fishing resort on Snake River, Idaho. They have three children.

With Mary Rockefeller, Rockefeller had lived at the three top floors at 810 Fifth Avenue. After their divorce and Rockefeller's second marriage, Mary Rockefeller kept the two top floors of the triplex apartment. The apartment was expanded via the purchase of one floor of 812 Fifth Avenue. The two spaces were connected via a flight of six steps. Nelson and Happy Rockefeller used the entrance at 812 Fifth, while Mary Rockefeller entered through 810 Fifth. Nelson and Happy Rockefeller remained married until Rockefeller's death.

Rockefeller engaged in numerous extramarital affairs during his marriages. Mary Rockefeller resented his adultery, which was one of the main reasons for their divorce. Rockefeller convinced Mary early in the marriage that they should live separate lives, but remain married for the sake of public appearances and the children. There was speculation surrounding the paternity of Malinda Fitler Murphy (born 1960), the youngest daughter of Happy Rockefeller and James Slater Murphy; many in the Rockefeller inner circle believed her to be Rockefeller's daughter. In his diary, Rockefeller intimate Ken Riland used a tone of knowing irony when mentioning Malinda, putting the word stepfather in quotes. Rockefeller was also a patient of famous psychic Edgar Cayce.

Rockefeller served as chairman of Rockefeller Center, Inc., from 1945 to 1953 and 1956 to 1958, and began a program of physical expansion there. In 1940, he and his four brothers established the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a philanthropy; he served as a trustee from 1940 to 1975 and 1977 to 1979, and as president in 1956. He established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA) in 1946. 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.

Rockefeller served as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art from 1932 to 1979. He also served as treasurer from 1935 from 1939 and president from 1939 to 1941 and 1946 and 1953. In 1933 Rockefeller was a member of the committee selecting art for the new Rockefeller Center. For the wall opposite the main entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza Nelson Rockefeller wanted Henri Matisse or Pablo Picasso to paint a mural because he favored their modern style but neither was available. Diego Rivera was one of Rockefeller's mother's favorite artists and therefore was commissioned to create the huge mural. He was given the theme of 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 of Vladimir Lenin (depicting communism) just off-center. 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. 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 of Abraham Lincoln. The Rockefeller-Rivera dispute is covered in the films Cradle Will Rock and Frida.

Rockefeller was a noted collector of both modern and non-Western art. During his governorship, the state of New York acquired major works of art for the new Empire State Plaza in Albany. He continued his mother's work at the Museum of Modern Art as president and turned the basement of his Kykuit mansion 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 friend Roy Neuberger, the Philip Johnson-designed Neuberger Museum on the campus of the State University of New York at Purchase. He commissioned Master Santiago Martínez Delgado to make a canvas mural for the Bank of New York (City Bank) in Bogotá, Colombia; this ended up being the last work of the artist, as he died while finishing it.

Rockefeller's early visits to Mexico kindled 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 the Museum of Primitive Art devoted to the indigenous art of the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and early Asia and Europe. His personal collection formed the core of the collection. In 1956, Frederic Huntington Douglas was named honorary Curator of the American Indian section of the Nelson Rockefeller Museum of Native Arts in New York. The museum opened to the public in 1957 in a townhouse at 15 West 54th Street in New York City. In 1969, he gave the museum's collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where it became the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection.

In 1977, Rockefeller 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". In 1978, Alfred A. Knopf published a book on primitive art from Rockefeller's collection. Rockefeller, impressed with the work of photographer Lee Boltin and 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.

Reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to problem solving, Rockefeller took a pragmatic approach to governing. In their book Rockefeller of New York: Executive Power in the State House, Robert Connery and Gerald Benjamin state that "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." According to Connery and Benjamin, 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."

Rockefeller was opposed by conservatives in the Republican Party, such as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, because of his liberal political views. Described as a big spender by historian Geoffrey Kabaservice, Rockefeller spent more money as governor of New York than his Republican predecessor Thomas E. Dewey, a moderate Republican who was more fiscally conservative. Rockefeller expanded the state's infrastructure, increased spending on education including a massive expansion of the State University of New York, and increased the state's involvement in environmental issues. In foreign affairs, Rockefeller supported American involvement in the United Nations, as well as United States foreign aid. He also supported the fight against communism and its membership in NATO. As a result of Rockefeller's policies, some conservatives sought to gain leverage by creating the Conservative Party of New York. The small party acted as a minor counterweight to the Liberal Party of New York.

The most common criticism of Rockefeller's governorship of New York is that he attempted to do too much too quickly, significantly increasing the state's debt level, which later contributed to New York's fiscal crisis in 1975. 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 1959–1960 to $8.8 billion in his last year, 1973–1974. In the words of Connery and Benjamin, "Rockefeller sought and obtained eight tax increases during his fifteen years in office." Connery and Benjamin further argued that "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."