Nelson Rockefeller

Nelson Rockefeller was an American diplomat and politician of the Republican Party, who served as Governor of New York in the 1960s.

Early life
Rockefeller was born in Maine in 1908, the grandson of both John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in history, and Nelson Aldrich, a highly-influential Republican Senator from Rhode Island. He studied economics in college and worked for his family's petroleum business in Venezuela, sparking a lifelong interest in Latin America.

Diplomatic career
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Rockefeller to head the Office of Inter-American Affairs, where he was in charge of fostering positive relations between the United States and Latin America. He resigned from this post in early 1942 after Roosevelt's successor, Henry Wallace, bungled diplomatic relations with many Latin American countries.

When Robert Taft became the President in 1945, Rockefeller was appointed Ambassador to Turkey. After the Turkish coup d'état of 1951, Rockefeller was in charge of getting American citizens out of the country before it convulsed into civil war. He managed to escape Turkey shortly after it was invaded by the Soviet Union and its allies in July 1951.

Political career
By the end of the 1950s, Rockefeller had moved into electoral politics, and was elected Governor of New York sometime before 1960. He became an eminent leader of the liberal wing of the Republican Party, to the point that moderate Republicans became known as "Rockefeller Republicans". Harold Stassen, the Republican nominee in the presidential election of 1960, wanted Rockefeller to be his vice presidential candidate, but Rockefeller declined, intending to run for President in 1964 or 1968. It is not mentioned whether Rockefeller ended up running for President in either year, but in any case he was never nominated for the position by his Party. After his governorship, Rockefeller retired from politics.

His son Michael Rockefeller currently serves as Mayor of New York City.

Mentions
Rockefeller is mentioned in Parts 4, 55, and 81 of For All Time.