Businessman governor philanthropist politician
Winthrop Rockefeller was born in New York City, New York, United States, the fourth son and fifth of six children of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , only son of the founder of Standard Oil, and Abby Greene Aldrich, patron of the arts and daughter of Nelson Aldrich, who served Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1881 to 1911.
Rockefeller attended the Lincoln School in Manhattan, but his work was so poor that his father sent him to Loomis, a prep boarding school in Windsor, Connecticut, from which he graduated on June 6, 1931. In the fall, he entered Yale, which he left in February 1934 without earning a degree.
His father secured him a job with Humble Oil, a Standard Oil subsidiary, so that he might learn the oil business from the bottom up. He worked as a laborer in the Texas oil fields, lived in boarding houses, eating at chili stands, and apparently overcoming the distrust his fellow workers instinctively felt for a man named Rockefeller. He later said his years in the oil fields were the happiest of his life. However, a Rockefeller could not remain a "roughneck" indefinitely, and early in 1937 he was recalled to New York City to participate in the family businesses and engage in philanthropic and public service endeavors. He worked first as a trainee at Chase Bank and then in the foreign department of Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. In 1937, he became a member of the board of Colonial Williamsburg, the Virginia historical restoration that was his father's pet project, and in 1953 its chairman. In 1938, he was appointed executive vice-chairman of the Greater New York Fund and raised money for the city's many charitable organizations. He was also active in raising funds for the National Urban League and the United Negro College Fund. Although Rockefeller seemed to settle into a life his father thought proper, he escaped the obligations imposed by his name when he enlisted in the United States Army as a private in January 1941. After completing Infantry Officers Training School in January 1942 he was promoted to second lieutenant, served in the Pacific Theater, earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, and eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After leaving the army in 1946, Rockefeller returned to Socony-Vacuum and his public service activities. The wealthy bachelor frequented New York City night spots and gained a reputation as a playboy and heavy drinker. In 1953, during the highly publicized breakup of his first marriage, Rockefeller escaped to Arkansas, where he bought several hundred acres atop Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton, Arkansas, and set about creating a model farm, which he named Winrock. He established several businesses and engaged in numerous philanthropic endeavors in his adopted state. From the day of his arrival in Arkansas, his name and his wealth made him a man to be reckoned with, and despite the fact that Rockefeller was a Republican, Orval Faubus, the Democratic governor of the state, appointed him to head the newly created Arkansas Industrial Development Commission in 1955.
By 1960, Rockefeller had developed an interest in strengthening the state's moribund Republican party. Although he was elected Republican national committeeman from Arkansas in 1961, many old guard Republicans were not pleased by the efforts of the immigrant from New York to breathe new life into their party. They had reached an accommodation with the state's Democratic machine and tended to view Rockefeller's efforts to bring new people into the party as a threat to their prerogatives. Nonetheless, Rockefeller devoted himself and his vast financial resources to an effort to build a strong Republican party in the traditionally Democratic state. In 1964, he challenged Governor Orval Faubus, who was seeking a sixth (two-year) term. A key factor in this decision was Rockefeller's opposition to the staunch segregationist position Faubus had adopted during the attempt to integrate Little Rock's Central High School in 1957. He was defeated by Faubus, a master campaigner, who depicted Rockefeller as a "carpetbagger" and a divorced man who drank whiskey--"issues" that appeared to matter in Arkansas in the 1960's. In 1966, Rockefeller defeated Democrat Jim Johnson, a rabid segregationist, to become Arkansas' first Republican governor since Reconstruction. In 1968, he won reelection by defeating Democrat Marion Crank. However, neither victory was due to any increase in the strength of the Arkansas GOP; instead, Rockefeller was put into office by independent voters and moderate Democrats who supported his reform program. As governor (Jan. 10, 1967 - Jan. 12, 1971), Rockefeller angered old guard Republicans by appointing people, including blacks, on the basis of competence rather than party. He also faced an often hostile Democratic legislature throughout his tenure. Nonetheless, he was able to secure the passage of laws that helped reform the state's prison system and to improve education and social services. However, his call for higher taxes to fund such programs endeared him neither to the legislators nor to the voters. Despite a pledge that he would seek no more than two terms as governor, he ran for a third term in 1970 when it appeared that his likely Democratic opponent would be Orval Faubus, who had defeated him in 1964 and who, Rockefeller feared, would dismantle his reforms if he returned to power. However, Dale Bumpers, a moderate Democrat and a newcomer to politics, defeated Faubus in the primary and Rockefeller in the general election. Ironically, Bumpers would succeed in getting the general assembly to pass many of the proposals it had rejected when Rockefeller was governor. Although Rockefeller's success as governor was mixed, his impact on Arkansas politics was profound for, as the headline of an obituary put it, "he altered [the] course of state politics. " His attempt to build the Arkansas GOP failed, but his challenge led to the transformation of the Arkansas Democratic party in which power passed from the old machine politicians, who traded on racial issues, to a new generation of moderates. As Dale Bumpers said in 1989, "If there had not been a Winthrop Rockefeller, I am not sure there would have been a Governor Dale Bumpers, a Governor David Pryor or a Governor Bill Clinton. "
Although Rockefeller's success as governor was mixed, his impact on Arkansas politics was profound for, as the headline of an obituary put it, "he altered [the] course of state politics. "
On February 14, 1948, he married Barbara ("Bobo") Paul Sears (born Jievute Paulekiute), a divorcee who had once been named Miss Lithuania in a Chicago beauty contest. The couple soon separated and were divorced in August 1954, after Rockefeller agreed to a settlement that reportedly gave Bobo almost $6 million and custody of their only son.
On June 11, 1956, he was married for a second time to Jeannette Edris, who already had been married three times and had a son and daughter of her own. The couple divorced in April 1971.
On February 14, 1973, he was admitted to the Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, where he died eight days later. His body was cremated and the ashes returned to his beloved Winrock Farm, where a memorial service was held on March 4.
Despite a pledge that he would seek no more than two terms as governor, he ran for a third term in 1970 when it appeared that his likely Democratic opponent would be Orval Faubus, who had defeated him in 1964 and who, Rockefeller feared, would dismantle his reforms if he returned to power.
On February 14, 1948, he married Barbara ("Bobo") Paul Sears (born Jievute Paulekiute), a divorcee who had once been named Miss Lithuania in a Chicago beauty contest. On June 11, 1956, he was married for a second time to Jeannette Edris, who already had been married three times and had a son and daughter of her own. The couple divorced in April 1971.
