| Notes |
Jay Rockefeller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
"Senator Rockefeller" redirects here. For the Washington State Senate member, see Phil Rockefeller.
Jay Rockefeller
Jay Rockefeller official photo.jpg
United States Senator
from West Virginia
In office
January 15, 1985 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by Jennings Randolph
Succeeded by Shelley Moore Capito
Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by Daniel Inouye
Succeeded by John Thune
Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by Pat Roberts
Succeeded by Dianne Feinstein
Chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
In office
June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by Arlen Specter
Succeeded by Arlen Specter
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
Preceded by Arlen Specter
Succeeded by Arlen Specter
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by Alan Cranston
Succeeded by Alan Simpson
29th Governor of West Virginia
In office
January 17, 1977 – January 14, 1985
Preceded by Arch A. Moore Jr.
Succeeded by Arch A. Moore Jr.
22nd Secretary of State of West Virginia
In office
January 13, 1969 – January 15, 1973
Governor Arch Moore
Preceded by Robert D. Bailey Jr.
Succeeded by Edgar Heiskell
Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates
In office
1966–1968
Personal details
Born John Davison Rockefeller IV
June 18, 1937 (age 83)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic (1966–present)
Other political
affiliations Republican (before 1966)
Spouse(s) Sharon Percy (m. 1967)
Children 4, including Justin
Parents John D. Rockefeller III
Blanchette Ferry Hooker
Relatives See Rockefeller family
Education Harvard University (AB)
International Christian University
Yale University
Signature
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia (1977–85). Rockefeller moved to Emmons, West Virginia, to serve as a VISTA worker in 1964 and was first elected to public office as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates (1966). Rockefeller was later elected West Virginia Secretary of State (1968) and was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College (1973–75). He became the state's senior U.S. Senator when the long-serving Senator Robert Byrd died in June 2010.
As a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who died less than a month before Rockefeller's birth, he was the only serving politician of the prominent six-generation Rockefeller family during his tenure in the United States Senate[further explanation needed] and the only one to have held office as a Democrat in what has been a traditionally Republican dynasty, though he too was originally a Republican until he decided to run for office in what was then a strictly Democratic state.[1] Rockefeller did not seek reelection in 2014 and was succeeded by Republican U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito.[2]
Contents
1 Early life
2 State politics
3 U.S. Senate tenure
3.1 Elections
3.2 Overview
3.3 Committees
4 Political positions
4.1 Iraq War
4.2 Television violence
4.3 Telecommunications companies
4.4 Torture
4.5 2008 presidential election
4.6 Cybersecurity
4.7 Health care
5 Electoral history
6 Personal life
7 Awards and decorations
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
Early life
John Davison Rockefeller IV was born at New York Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, to John Davison Rockefeller III (1906–1978) and Blanchette Ferry Hooker (1909–1992), 26 days after the death of his patrilineal great-grandfather, John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (1839–1937). He is a grandson of John Davison Rockefeller Jr. Jay graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1955. After his junior year at Harvard College, he spent three years studying Japanese at the International Christian University in Tokyo.[3] He graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Far Eastern Languages and History. He attended Yale University and did graduate work in Oriental studies and studied the Chinese language.[3][4][5]
After college, Rockefeller worked for the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., under President John F. Kennedy, where he developed a friendship with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and worked as an assistant to Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver. He served as the Operations Director for the Corps' largest overseas program, in the Philippines. He worked for a brief time in the United States Department of Far Eastern Affairs.[5] He continued his public service in 1964–1965 in the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), under President Lyndon B. Johnson, during which time he moved to Emmons, West Virginia.[6]
Rockefeller, along with his son Charles,[7] is a Trustee of New York's Asia Society, which was established by his father in 1956. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations,[8] a nonprofit think tank previously chaired by his uncle, David Rockefeller. As a Senator, he voted against the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, which was heavily backed by David Rockefeller.
State politics
Governor Rockefeller giving a speech aboard USS Stump, July 1984.
Rockefeller was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1966, and to the office of West Virginia Secretary of State in 1968. He won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1972, but was defeated in the general election by the Republican incumbent Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr.. Rockefeller then served as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1973 to 1975.
Rockefeller was elected Governor of West Virginia in 1976 and re-elected in 1980. He served as governor when manufacturing plants and coal mines were closing as the national recession of the early 1980s hit West Virginia particularly hard. Between 1982 and 1984, West Virginia's unemployment rate hovered between 15 and 20 percent.
U.S. Senate tenure
Elections
In 1984, he was elected to the United States Senate, narrowly defeating businessman John Raese as Ronald Reagan easily carried the state in the presidential election. As in his 1980 gubernatorial campaign against Arch Moore, Rockefeller spent over $12 million to win a Senate seat. Rockefeller was re-elected in 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008 by substantial margins. He was chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs (1993–1995; January 3 to 20, 2001; and June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003). Rockefeller was the chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (2009–2015).
Surrounded by colleagues Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator Bob Dole, Senator Strom Thurmond, and former Senator Jennings Randolph, Vice President George H.W. Bush administers the oath of office for Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller, in January 1985.
Overview
In April 1992, he was the Democratic Party's finance chairman and considered running for the presidency, but pulled out after consulting with friends and advisers. He went on to strongly endorse Clinton as the Democratic candidate.[9]
He was the Chairman of the prominent Senate Intelligence Committee (retiring in January 2009), from which he commented frequently on the war in Iraq.
In 1993, Rockefeller became the principal Senate supporter, with Ted Kennedy, behind Bill and Hillary Clinton's sweeping health care reform package, liaising closely with the First Lady, opening up his mansion next to Rock Creek Park for its first strategy meeting. The reform was subsequently defeated by an alliance between the Business Roundtable and a small-business coalition.[10]
In 2002, Rockefeller made an official visit to several Middle Eastern countries, during which he discussed his personal views regarding United States military intentions with the leaders of those countries. In October of that year, Rockefeller strongly expressed his concern for Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction program while addressing the U.S. Senate:
There has been some debate over how "imminent" a threat Iraq poses. I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. It is in the nature of these weapons, and the way they are targeted against civilian populations, that documented capability and demonstrated intent may be the only warning we get. To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? We cannot![11]
In November 2005 during a TV interview, Rockefeller stated,
I took a trip ... in January 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course that had taken shape shortly after 9/11.
Rockefeller noted that the comment expresses his personal opinion, and that he was not privy to any confidential information that such action was planned.[12] On October 11, 2002, he was one of 77 Senators who voted for the Iraq Resolution authorizing the Iraq invasion.
In February 2010, regarding President Obama, Rockefeller said,
He says 'I'm for clean coal,' and then he says it in his speeches, but he doesn't say it in here ... And he doesn't say it in the minds of my own people. And he's beginning to not be believable to me.
Rockefeller faced criticism from West Virginia coal companies, which claimed that he was out of touch.[13]
Rockefeller with fellow West Virginia Senator Carte Goodwin.
Rockefeller became the senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia when Robert Byrd died in June 2010, after serving in the senate with Rockefeller for 25 years.
In July 2011 Rockefeller was prominent in calling for U.S. agencies to investigate whether alleged phone hacking at News Corporation's newspapers in the United Kingdom had targeted American victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.[14][15] Rockefeller and Barbara Boxer subsequently wrote to the oversight committee of Dow Jones & Company (a subsidiary of News Corporation) to request that it conduct an investigation into the hiring of former CEO Les Hinton, and whether any current or former executives had knowledge of or played a role in phone hacking.[16][17]
He announced on January 11, 2013, that he would not run for a sixth term.[2] On March 25, 2013, Rockefeller announced his support for gay marriage.[18]
In November 2014, Rockefeller donated his senatorial archives to the West Virginia University Libraries and the West Virginia & Regional History Center.[19] The archival collection documents his 30-year career in the United States Senate.[20]
According to the website GovTrack, Rockefeller missed 541 of 9,992 roll call votes from January 1985 to July 2014. This amounted to 5.4 percent, which was worse than the median of 2.0 percent among senators serving as of July 2014.[21]
|