United States Vice - Presidents

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller

1908-1979

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was appointed to the office of Vice President in accordance with the 25th amendment to the Constitution after Gerald Ford Replaced Richard Nixon as President. He was the standard bearer for the liberal wing of the Republican Party. 

He was born in Bar Harbor Maine in 1908. His grandfather was John D. Rockefeller, the all mighty founder and commander of the Standard Oil Company. His other grandfather was the politically powerful senator from Rhode Island, Nelson Aldrich. He was enrolled in New York’s Lincoln academy and later graduated from Dartmouth University. During his senior year he wrote a 45 page honors thesis on The Standard Oil Company, received an A in every subject, except public speaking and politics, and was accepted in to Phi Beta Kappa. 

Nelson Rockefeller’s academic achievement is even more impressive when you consider his handicap, dyslexia. Remember, in the late 1920s the condition had not been diagnosed and special education for children with learning disabilities was not available. In addition to his reading problem young Nelson’s father believed that left-handedness could be cured with proper training and discipline. In later years Rockefeller would wonder what psychological problems might have been caused by his father’s aversion to using the left hand. 

While working for his father, John D Rockefeller Jr., who was overseeing the construction of Rockefeller Center, Nelson got in to an argument with Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a known sympathizer of the Communist revolution in Russia. Rivera had been commissioned to paint a mural of American working people on the large wall opposite the main entrance. When the mural was completed Rockefeller saw that one of the factory workers looked exactly like Vladmir Lenin. He demanded that Rivera repaint the worker to look like an anonymous laborer, but Rivera refused saying it violated his artistic independence. Rockefeller’s father decided that Rivera would be paid in full for his work and then terminated their contract. The wall was torn down and rebuilt

His first government office was an appointment the Westchester County board of health in 1933. In 1940 he came to the attention of Franklin Roosevelt and became the coordinator of the Office of Inter-American Affairs as part of President‘s “Good neighbor policy”. Nelson Rockefeller was also a member of the board of the Creole Oil Company of Venezuela, a subsidiary of Standard Oil. During this time he and his brothers, John D. III, Lawrence, Winthrop, and David formed the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation to promote economic development in Latin America. Many people hailed the brothers Rockefeller for their philanthropic efforts, but some extremist would see it as the beginning of a sinister plot of internationalist bankers to rule the world. 


In 1950 Truman put him in charge of the International Development advisory board. Less than a year later Secretary of State James Byrnes, believing that Rockefeller was trying to get the job of Secretary of state for himself, said he wanted someone else to be his assistant. Truman sided with Byrnes and asked Rockefeller for his resignation. 


When Eisenhower became President Rockefeller was made the head of the Advisory Commission on Government Organizations in 1954. The committee, under Chairman Rockefeller’s guidance, recommended a permanent department to advice the President on domestic issues. It would later be known as The Department of Health Education and Welfare. 

Were these appointments due to Rockefeller’s advanced knowledge and administrative skills, or was it because he was a Rockefeller? The curse of inherited wealth, no matter how hard you work to get ahead some people will always say, “It was the family money that got him the job.” 

On the international scene President Eisenhower was preparing for the Geneva press conference, and Rockefeller was meeting with Harold Stassen, the director of the Mutual Security Agency, to formulate the “Open Skies” policy. It was an agreement that would allow flights by US planes over the USSR and Soviet planes over the US to avoid giving either side a first strike advantage. He also worked on a plan with future Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for an alternative to the proposed nuclear test ban treaty. Kissinger and Rockefeller proposed that the nations agree to restrict the amount of fallout rather than ban the testing of nuclear weapons. Rockefeller had hoped his work would lead to a cabinet post, but Eisenhower was pressured by his advisors not to appoint Rockefeller. 

In 1958 he ran as a Republican and defeated the incumbent governor Averill Harriman. Harriman was also from the privileged class due to his family’s ownership of the Union Pacific Rail Road (Later, in 1968, Harriman was the United States representative at the Paris Peace talks). Rockefeller was soon on the cover of Time and Newsweek and the topic of many editorials. The governorship of New York had been a springboard to the presidency for Grover Cleveland and Franklin Roosevelt, and the party nomination for Al Smith and Tom Dewey. There was little reason to doubt that New York’s governor would be a contender in 1960. 

Rockefeller believed in state programs to help local communities and provide aid to schools through out the state, but he wanted to do it without deficit spending. In 1959 Rockefeller asked the legislature for five new taxes, which were necessary to balance the budget. He blamed the previous Harriman administration for that necessity. Despite raising taxes Rockefeller remained popular as people benefited from the government services provided by his administration. 

While Nelson Rockefeller was running New York Vice President Richard Nixon had been campaigning for the presidency. By the time the Rockefeller forces got their act together Nixon had pocketed the 1960 presidential nomination. Rockefeller would later claim he could have defeated Kennedy and should have tried harder to get the nomination away from Nixon. 

When Rockefeller ran for reelection in 1962 he wanted his opponent to be New York City’s popular mayor Robert Wagner. Beating a popular Democrat was sure to boost his ratings in Republican polls. Unfortunately his opponent was a political nobody, US Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Beating Morgenthau did little to raise Rockefellers image as a national candidate. 

During the 1962 campaign Rockefeller promised not to raise taxes. He had hoped that through proper money management and investments the government programs could survive using the pay as you go system. Like all good ideas, they are usually too good to be true. After the election it became necessary to raise funds to support state programs. Hoping to ease the pain of breaking a campaign promise Rockefeller used the euphemistic term “fees” when asking for increased state income to help balance the budget.

Rockefeller was an active leader of the Republican Party in New York, often meeting with Senator Jacob Javitts, and political leaders Arthur Levitt and Jud Moorehouse to discuss and plan strategy to keep their party in control. Rockefeller believed that by fulfilling his promises to local communities he was undercutting any substantial threat from New York’s Democrats. 

In addition to business and politics he loved art. As a young man he enjoyed visiting the art museums with his mother, and he made art collecting his hobby. He served as the president of the Metropolitan Art Museum of New York City, and is credited with making New York City one of the best places to view art in the World. In the 1970’s he funded the building of The Museum of Primitive Art as a memorial to his son Michael, an archeologist who was lost in New Guinea and never found. 

Richard Nixon should have been the odds on favorite to run against Kennedy in 1964, but in 1962 he decided to run for governor of California. Nixon lost to incumbent Edmund G “Pat” Brown (Jerry’s father), and he also announced his retirement from politics saying those now famous words, “… this is my last press conference, you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore”. Rockefeller, as governor of one of the nations most populous states and already a known national figure was on his way to the 1964 nomination, except for some competition from Arizona. 

Long before Senator Barry Goldwater declared his candidacy the name Goldwater was often heard when anyone would criticize Kennedy. Kennedy imitator Vaughn Meter had this joke on his record album The First Family:

Reporter: Mr. President how soon will we be able to put man on the moon?

Kennedy: As soon as Senator Goldwater wants to go. 

Being one of President Kennedy’s most quoted and referred to critics was certainly a boost for the for Goldwater campaign. 





Looking forward to the New Hampshire primary, Rockefeller’s forces were predicting that Goldwater was nothing more than a small time grassroots candidate appealing only to the most extreme elements of the Republican Party. A strong showing in New Hampshire was sure to put Nelson Rockefeller on the road to the White House. 

All was going well for the Rockefeller campaign until he decided to make changes in his personal life. In 1961 he and his wife had separated, and in 1963 they divorced. Less than a year later he married a 36-year-old divorcee, Margretta “Happy” Murphy. Soon support for his candidacy started to erode as people started to think, “Do we really want a man running the country who leaves his wife after 31 years of marriage so he can marry a younger woman?” 

The State of New Hampshire is small in both size and population, but when the presidential primary elections start it has the attention of the entire nation. Rockefeller was hoping that a big win would put him on the covers of America’s leading new magazines and make him the front-runner for the nomination. He wanted the campaign to be on the issues and to give Republicans an alternative to the conservatism of Barry Goldwater, but the publisher of the Manchester Union Leader Howard Loeb made the Rockefeller marriage a big issue when he called Rockefeller, “A wife swapper”. 

Henry Cabot Lodge was best known nationally as Nixon’s running mate in 1960, and he was in Saigon serving as America’s ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam when the election took place. Rockefeller had managed to get a telephone connection to the embassy and asked Lodge to stop his supporters write-in campaign, but Lodge refused. An angry Rockefeller didn’t understand why Lodge had previously encouraged him to run and stop Goldwater, but was now getting in the way of his candidacy. Instead of the senator from Arizona or the governor of New York Republicans wrote the name Henry Cabot Lodge on their ballots. Goldwater came in second and Rockefeller was third. The Governor’s dream of sweeping the primaries was gone. 



The collecting of delegates was going well for Goldwater, but the Rockefeller campaign got a major boost when he won in Oregon. It looked like California would be deciding who would be the nominee. The campaign in California was a fight between “liberal” and “conservative” Republicans. After Goldwater made a statement regarding the use of nuclear weapons the Rockefeller campaign ran an ad that went something like this,

Reporter: Governor Rockefeller, Senator Goldwater said he would end diplomatic talks with the Soviet Union.

Rockefeller: Ending diplomatic talks are what nations do when they are preparing for war. The last thing the American people want is a war with the Soviet Union.

The Rockefeller ads would then end with “Vote for Governor Rockefeller, the responsible Republican”.

The Goldwater campaign ran an ad that went something like this,

A man in his late sixties is sitting in big chair looking over his glasses at a Rockefeller ad in the newspaper.

Man: “Nelson Rockefeller, the responsible Republican“. (Looks into camera) Responsible for raising New York’s taxes five times! Now, Barry Goldwater here is a man who really represents what we want. 

While Rockefeller was trying to convince voters that Goldwater was too far to the right of the mainstream to be a viable candidate against Lyndon Johnson, Goldwater supporters were telling voters that Rockefeller didn’t really offer voters a clear choice and that Rockefeller’s policies in New York were not that different from the Democrats. 

The day before the election the Rockefeller campaign shut down and their manager returned to New York. A stupid blunder. Goldwater’s campaign filled the airwaves and newspapers with ads for Goldwater and criticisms of Rockefeller, and now there was no way for Rockefeller to fight back. Goldwater received just fewer than 52% of the vote and Rockefeller had just over 48%. The Senator from Arizona now had enough votes to win the nomination. 

Before the Republicans met for their convention the Senate voted on the controversial Civil rights act. It had been headline news, and was supported by the Northern Democrats and almost all of the Republicans, including Senate Minority leader Everett Dirkson. Senator Goldwater was one of only six Republicans who voted no, saying it was a violation of individual constitutional rights. Many in the Republican Party feared that with Goldwater at the head of the ticket the party would have little or no chance of attracting minority votes. Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania announced his candidacy and came to the convention hoping to rally a coaliton of Rockefeller supporters and other liberal and moderate Republicans and stop Goldwater from getting the nomination. 

Governor Scranton was not just a Scranton he was one of the Scrantons. Descended from the man that built the Scranton Mill, made a fortune making railroad tracks, and founded the city of Scranton Pennsylvania. 

Many of the people supporting Goldwater felt that Rockefeller was just being a sore loser and was hoping that Scranton could undo the results of the California primary. Goldwater’s opponents felt that his campaign against Social Security, welfare, and other social programs was right in line with Scrooge before he met the ghosts, considering the fact that he had inherited a small chain of department stores from his father.

One of the planks submitted for the Republican Party platform was a condemnation of extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, and the Communist Party, and it also included the John Birch Society, a right wing organization that used anti-communism to boost their conservative agenda. They opposed fluoridating public water systems as a violation of people’s right to chose or refuse medication, and spread reports that it may actually be harmful to our health. Their anti-communism went to such extremes that they accused former President Dwight D. Eisenhower of being a communist. 

Goldwater and his delegates never claimed to support or entirely agree with the Birchers, but it was a known fact that Goldwater was their favorite candidate. The proposed plank was viewed as just an underhanded attempt by Rockefeller/Scranton to stop the Goldwater campaign. 

When it was time to make the speech in favor of the plank condemning extremism Governor Nelson Rockefeller stepped up to the podium. Immediately the Goldwater delegates began to boo, and yell. Rockefeller waited, and waited. He was then advised that he only had five minutes. He then turned to the advisor (future Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird) and told him, “I’m entitled to five minutes, and boos don’t count.” Eventually floor leaders were able to convince the delegates to quiet down and let Governor Rockefeller speak. 

Why did those Goldwater delegates despise Rockefeller so much? Their opposition to his politics was much more than your typical election year competition. Along with a staunch support of States Rights, and their opposition to government social programs, one thing that right wing extremist agreed on was their hatred of that horrible international institution, The United Nations. To them the UN was nothing more than a plot to undermine United States sovereignty and make us subservient to a higher international authority. I remember back in the ninth grade we were asked by our church to collect money for UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. After saying “Trick or Treat for UNICEF”, and then explaining that UN stood for United Nations this poor kid was chased off this guy’s front yard while he yelled at him about the evils of the communist United Nations. What does the United Nations have to do with Nelson Rockefeller? In 1946 it was Nelson’s father who purchased and donated the land in New York City where the UN Building stands today. According to right wing extremist theorist, first the Rockefellers were international oilmen and bankers and now the UN would be conveniently located where they could keep it under their control. 

When Senator Barry Goldwater stepped up to the microphone to accept the nomination there was to be no compromise with the liberal wing of the Republican Party. He rallied his followers, and rejected the oppositions attack on extremism by saying, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is not a vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is not a virtue” 

Republican incumbent Senator Kenneth Keating of New York was known for being on the same team as Rockefeller, but after the convention he said he would support his party’s nominee. That was the paradox faced by liberal Republicans in 1964. If they refused to support Goldwater they risked losing the support of the National Republican Party and all of its influential and financial support. If they supported Goldwater they risked losing votes from moderates, liberal, and any other voters opposed to Goldwater. Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of the recently assassinated President, was not a resident of New York but he was able to defeat Senator Keating. During his campaign Kennedy told the voters, “You may not like me, and you may not like the fact that I haven’t lived in New York, but I’m the only candidate that’s running who isn’t going to vote for Senator Goldwater.” Was this the end for liberal Republicans? Would they abandon the party and become Democrats? What chance did Nelson Rockefeller have of being re-elected when conservatives opposed to his political ideals now dominated his national party?

When the gubernatorial campaign of 1966 started his own polls gave him less that 22% of the popular vote. His own brother, David, advised him not to seek re-election. Fearing competition with in his own party from Senator Javits, Rockefeller hoped to snuff out any burning desire Javits may have had to be governor of New York by announcing that Senator Javit’s would be New York’s favorite son candidate for vice president in 1968. Javit’s turned down the favorite son offer, and instead agreed to be Rockefeller’s 1966 campaign manager. 

The New York Democrats thought they had an excellent chance to put one of their own in the Governors mansion. City councilman, and former district attorney, Frank O’Connor received the nomination. Staff members from Senator Robert Kennedy helped work on the O’Connor campaign, but New York post publisher Dorothy Schiff believed that Kennedy didn’t want any future competition from a Democrat New York governor, and had arranged for O’Connor’s nomination only because he would be easier for Rockefeller to defeat him. 

Rockefeller had won as Governor and John Lindsay had been elected mayor of New York City a year earlier, proving that liberals in the Republican Party were not dead. On the other end of the political spectrum and on the opposite side of the nation George Murphy was elected to the US Senate in 1964, and two year later Ronald Reagan was elected Governor. Who would control the party in 1968? 



Rockefeller had endorsed the candidacy of Michigan governor George Romney for the 1968 Republican nomination. Romney had been on the cover of major news magazines in the early 1960’s for his success in saving the failing American Motors corporation. He streamlined AMC by dropping the Nash and Hudson lines and concentrated only on Ramblers. In 1964 he made political headlines as one of the major Republicans to survive the LBJ landslide. But Romney proved to be a great disappointment as a presidential campaigner. Often having to clarify and reword what he said he soon became a national joke in many newspaper editorials. His “I was brain washed” remark, following a fact-finding tour of Vietnam, ended any hope of his being the president. Now Rockefeller was faced with political dejavu. He had waited too long before launching his own campaign, and Richard M. Nixon had risen from the political graveyard to become the Republican front-runner. 

When Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York was assassinated after his victory in the Democrat’s California Primary Nelson Rockefeller had to choose his replacement. At first it was offered to Mayor John Lindsay, but he declined the offer. The job of Senator from New York went to an unknown state representative named Charles Goodell. 



At the 1968 convention Nixon easily the nomination, but I can remember watching the convention on television and seeing a loyal diehard Rockefeller delegate saying “I cast - votes for the next President of the United States, Nelson Rockefeller”. Rockefeller gracefully accepted the fact of Nixon’s nomination and vowed to support him in the general election. 

In 1970 Rockefeller would be a candidate for governor for the fourth time. This time his opponent was Arthur Goldberg. Goldberg had served as Kennedy’s secretary of Labor, he was Johnson’s representative to the United Nations, and had been a justice on the United States Supreme Court. Rockefeller’s financial war chest, including campaign contributions from his brothers was one of the biggest in Rockefeller family history. Apparently it was enough for Nelson Rockefeller to continue as Governor of New York.

Less than a year later prisoners at New York’s Attica penitentiary rioted and took hostages. They made a list of demands for improving conditions for inmates and demanded to see the governor. Negotiators, including New York writer Tom Wicker, entered the prison and pleaded with the prisoners not to harm the hostages, and said they would talk to the governor about their grievances. Rockefeller wanted no negotiations. Fearing that a governor of a major state being dictated to by knife wielding convicts would send the wrong message to every crackpot and criminal group in America. Rockefeller ordered the State Police to take control prison. 

Dressed in riot gear, with shotguns and tear gas, and backed up by helicopters, the State Police rushed in to Attica shooting at any prisoners who resisted or fought back. Thirty-nine hostages and inmates were killed, and over 300 were wounded. The entire operation to restore the prison to its lawful commanders took less than 30 minutes. 

Many people in America, including the conservatives, praised Governor Rockefeller for his tough decision not to back down and cower as the hostage takers made their demands. Critics of Governor Rockefeller believed he had acted too quickly and that a peaceful solution would have ended with less bloodshed. 

By 1972 drug trafficking had become a major problem in New York. Rockefeller urged, and received strong anti-drug legislation from the state assembly. Long prison terms with little or no chance of parole was now the law of the land in New York. This again made him popular with America’s conservatives, but liberals opposed it saying government should concentrate more on therapy and counseling. 



In 1973 Rockefeller resigned as governor. As a private citizen he could now devote all of his time to his presidential campaign in 1976. But in Washington D.C. major changes were taking place. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in disgrace after pleading guilty to not paying taxes. According to reports in the book “I Never Wanted To BE Vice-President of Anything” a biography of Nelson Rockefeller, Kramer and Roberts, Basic Books incorporated, 1976, Rockefeller called Nixon and asked for the vice presidency. He was not expecting an impeachment or resignation to make him President; he wanted to use the Vice President’s office as a platform from which to launch his 1976 campaign. Nixon decided instead to appoint House Minority Leader and Michigan congressman Gerald Ford. 

After Nixon’s resignation Gerald Ford was sworn in as President. Days later Ford offered the Vice Presidency to Rockefeller. Elected four times as governor and one of America’s wealthiest politicians, Rockefeller realized that he would never be the President. In the spirit of party unity he accepted and said he would support President Ford. 

Being approved by a skeptical post Watergate Congress was not as easy as simple limousine ride to the capitol. Despite Attica, and the tough Drug laws, some conservatives still didn’t like or trust Rockefeller. On the other side some liberals felt that he had abandoned them by leaning too far to the right. 

During the conformation hearings the government in Saigon was preparing for the end as soldiers and civilian fled from the communist invaders. Rockefeller warned that the Congress would have blood on its hands if it failed to act in defense of the South Vietnamese. His strong words criticizing the Congress earned the respect of his former adversary Senator Barry Goldwater. 

When Nationalist China’s leader Chaing Kai Chek died Goldwater and Rockefeller traveled to his funeral together on the same plane. The two men found that they agreed on many important issues. 

When the issue of personal finances came up during the Senate investigation this appeared in the daily cartoon Doonesbury:

I’m just guessing at the numbers and exact words, but you get the idea. A microphone and a voice represent Rockefeller and the Senator:

Senator: Governor Rockefeller just exactly what is your net worth? 

Rockefeller: That is personal family business and I believe I’m under no obligation to submit that information to the committee. 

Senator: We understand, but our concern is that this high office may be used to take unfair advantage of financial opportunities. 

Rockefeller: What? Heck, I’m already worth over 800 million dollars.

The Senate burst into applause and laughter. 

For the first, and let us hope the last, time in American History we had a president and a vice president who had not been elected by the voters. 

Knowing that he would not be the nominee for president in 1976 Rockefeller relaxed and enjoyed his duties as vice president. Once his “What are you going to do about it” attitude was caught on camera. A heckler was shouting insults. Rockefeller leaned over the podium and gave him the finger. The picture appeared in newspaper across the nation. Some people were of course offended that a man of such high office would resort to such a crude gesture, but others thought it was great to see politician who wasn’t afraid to show a heckler just what he really meant. 

Shortly after taking office both Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Rockefeller had been diagnosed with cancer and had to have mastectomies. It was major headline news and focused the nations attention on the dangers of breast cancer. 

California’s former two-term governor Ronald Reagan announced that he would be a candidate for the Republican nomination. Ford was able to stay ahead, but to appease the conservatives; Rockefeller was replaced on the ticket with Senator Robert Dole of Kansas. 

His wife Happy had died and Rockefeller returned to running his personal family interest and the Art museums. He should have died quietly and with the respect due to a four time New York governor and vice president, but it was reported that had been spending the night in his office with a young female associate doing more than the usual late night office work. 

Today “Liberal Republican” is an oxymoron, but they did exist, and Nelson Rockefeller was their leader. 

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