Nelson Rockefeller

Rockefeller was “a man who got things done.” According to his biographer, Richard Norton Smith, he was “the optimist to end all optimists.” “He would be the first to tell you he’s a pragmatist. He was not an ideologue. But more important than that, he believed every problem had a solution. And the contrast between then and now- when there’s such pervasive cynicism… [and] a notion that government isn’t working and the seeming total inability of government – right, left, liberal, conservative- to address those issues. There’d be none of that with Rockefeller.” [1]

As Governor of New York, Rockefeller vastly increased the state’s role in education (including by quadrupling state aid to primary and secondary schools, and vastly expanding state higher education) [2], in environmental protection [3], in transportation (for example, by winning approval for the largest state bond issue to date, $2.5 billion, for the coordinated development of mass transportation, highways, and airports) [4], in housing (by completing or starting over 88,000 units of housing for limited income and aged families) [5], in welfare and medical aid (by carrying out the largest state medical care program for the needy in the United States) [6], in civil rights [7], and in the arts [8]. When Rockefeller later ran for President, he was asked if his stance on racial justice might harm Republican prospects in the Southern United States. Rockefeller replied, “We have certain responsibilities that transcend political advantages… and one of them is certainly in the field of civil rights.” [9]

Prior to running for Governor, Rockefeller served in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Administration and in the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations. His recommendations fostered the creation of the federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Rockefeller was active in implementing measures that added coverage for ten million people under the Social Security program. [10]

As New York’s Governor, Rockefeller worked with the State legislature and unions to create generous pension programs for many public workers, including teachers, professors, firefighters, police officers, and prison guards. (Rockefeller had good relations with unions, especially the construction trades, which benefited from his extensive building programs.) He proposed the first statewide minimum wage law in the U.S., which was increased five times during his administration.

[1]  Smith, Richard Norton. Interview with William O’Shaughnessy. The O’Shaughnessy Files. WVOX, WVIP, October 29, 2014. https://theoshaughnessyfiles.com/2014/10/29/wo-interviews-richard-norton-smith-re-on-his-own-terms-a-life-of-nelson-rockefeller/

[2] Education: Rockefeller was the driving force in turning the State University of New York into 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 providing the first state financial support for educational television; and requiring public schools to provide special education for children with disabilities. (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), p. 1380)

[3] Environmental Protection: Consistent with his personal interest in design and planning, Rockefeller began expansion of the New York State Parks system 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. (“Theodore Roosevelt – Alfred E. Smith – Nelson Rockefeller – George Pataki.” The New York State Preservationist. NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Fall/Winter 2006, p. 20)

[4] Transportation: In 1967, Rockefeller initiated the creation or expansion of over 22,000 miles of highway, which vastly improved road transportation in the state of New York. (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), p. 1385) Rockefeller also introduced the state’s first support for mass transportation. He reformed the governance of New York City’s transportation system, creating the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 1965.

[5] Housing: In order to create more low-income housing, Rockefeller created the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC), granting it unprecedented powers to override local zoning, condemn property, and create financing schemes to carry out desired development. By 1973, the Rockefeller administration had completed or started over 88,000 units of housing for limited income families and the aging (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), p. 1382).

[6] Welfare and Medical Aid: In the area of public assistance, the Rockefeller administration carried out the largest state medical care program for the needy in the United States under the auspices of Medicaid; 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 (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), p. 1385).

[7]  Civil Rights: Rockefeller meaningfully reduced 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 as heads of 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. Rockefeller outlawed “block-busting” as a means of artificially depressing housing values and banned discrimination in the sale of all forms of insurance (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), pp. 1382, 1386). During his fifteen years as Governor, Rockefeller also 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 (State of New York, Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fifty-third Governor of the State of New York, vol. 15, 1973 (Albany, NY: State of New York, 1973), p. 1379).

[8] The Arts: Rockefeller created the first State Council on the Arts in the country, which became a model for the National Endowment for the Arts. (Benjamin, Gerald; Hurd, T. Norman, eds. (1984). “The Builder”. Rockefeller in Retrospect: The Governor’s New York Legacy. Albany, N.Y.: Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Govt. pp. 79–82. ISBN 0-914341-01-4. OCLC 11770290)

[9] Richard Norton Smith, On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller (New York: Random House, 2014)

[10] Cary Reich, The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller (New York: DoubleDay, 1966) 521–527.