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Photo by Philippe f Tga (V5ar C V fcl" - Tl
Jointly worth
half a billion
dollars, the five
grandsons of
John D. are
using this vast
wealth to make
the world a
better place to
live in.
by Theodore Irwin 1
"p on the 56th floor of the
Rockefeller Center's
main edifice, the square
jawed, broad-shouldered, hyper-energetic
millionaire gazed
thoughtfully out the window of
his small, . ultramodern office
at the New York panorama
spread out below,
"I'm completely unconscious
of being a Rockefeller," he said
to me. "People may think we're
different, but my brothers and
I maintain that we're all hu
man beings."
That remark, as I chatted
the other day with Nelson Aid
rich Rockefeller, struck me as
the key to the riddle of the
most extraordinary brothers of
their generation. Born under a
silver sword, the five grand
sons John D., 3rd, Nelson,
Winthrop, Laurance, and David
of the world's first billion
aire, once considered a money
making ogre, have emerged
from under the shadow of their
family name to stand on their
own feet as citizens dedicated
to the social good.
Instead of dissipating their
wealth as play boys, the
high-minded, third-generation
Rockefellers have extended
their personal power into al
most every facet of life cul
tural, scientific, religious, eco
nomic, and political. They've
sponsored scores of projects
ranging from neighborhood
improvement to alcoholism,
educational testing, and peace
ful atomic development.
To pool their thinking, which often goes in five directions at once, Rockefeller brothers meet monthly in their New York headquar
ters. This unusual photo of the five men together shows (I. to r.) Winthrop, 45, Laurance, 47, John, 52, David, 42, and Nelson, 50.
"The responsibilities of
wealth are more important
than ever," Nelson told me.
"As individuals with a tremen
dous opportunity, my brothers
and I exercise our initiative in
assuming those special respon
sibilities to make an original
contribution. That, we feel,
should be the stewardship of
wealth today."
The remarkable diversity of
the Rockefeller team's achieve
ments was recently demon
strated by their far-reaching,
half-million-dollar Special
Studies project. Exploring the
problems and opportunities
confronting this country in the
next 10-15 years, it develops
objectives and concepts based
on our heritage. To apply the
nation's best brains to these
problems, the Rockefeller boys
recruited 250 leading authori
ties in all fields.
The first trail-blazing report
last January, on military se
curity, proposed basic changes
which promptly became sig
nificant parts of the Eisen-hower-McElroy
plan for Pen
tagon reorganization. The sec
ond report in April dealt with
the current recession and of
fered such recommendations as
tax reforms and stepping up
public works. Early in June,
the Rockefeller study on inter
national economic policy point
ed to the changing world scene
and our need to evolve new
ideas. A few weeks later came
the penetrating analysis of
education and manpower,
stressing the full development
of individual capacities and the
roles of parents and the church
in shaping a child's character.
This Fall, the project will issue
roundup reports on "The Dem
ocratic Process" and "U. S.
International Objectives."
These studies, the Rocke
feller quintet believes, repre
sent the essence of democracy.
They feel that every citizen is
concerned with the magnitude
of our problems, anxious to get
the facts interpreted so that
they can intelligently exercise
their own judgment.
"People want to participate
and understand and have a
position on issues," says Nel
son, who originally sparked the
project because he felt Amer
ica was drifting. "Our studies
try to provide the conceptual
frameworks they need. If my
brothers and I can thus help in
some measure, the effort will
be justified."
Such idealism is common to
all five of the Rockefellers. But
beyond this, the family name,
and a boundless energy, all
similarity ends. Their per
sonalities are so different that
probably no one could identify
them in a crowd as brothers.
Each is a distinct individualist,
with ideas and interests of his
own. Each went to a different
college Harvard, Yale, Dart
mouth except John and Laur
ance, who chose Princeton.
John D., 3rd, at 52 the most
conservative and gentlest, is
tall, slender, pipe-smoking, and
withdrawn, works quietly and
prefers others to take public
credit for his accomplishments.
In contrast, Nelson, 50, is
wavy-haired, boyish-looking,
an athletic extrovert with a
buoyant, persuasive manner;
most ambitious member of the
clan, he has the common touch
and likes dealing with people.
Laurance, the third eldest
(he's 47) is lank and sharp
featured, the shrewdest of the
brothers, with the most busi
ness acumen. He's a bold,
hard-driving entrepreneur, an
urbane intellectual sophisticate
who calls himself "Bill" be
cause he considers Laurance a
"sissy" name. Winthrop is a
handsome, hearty, 45-year-old
giant, gregarious and convivial,
who used to frequent cafe so
ciety and once teamed up with
actress Mary Martin to win a
dance contest. The youngest
brother, David, is 42, an aff
able, moon-faced scholar who
received his Ph.D. degree at
the University of Chicago.
14
Family Wteklv. Anuuil 3. ma
Those
Fabulous
Rockefeller
Brothers
cal work with his hands. He
quit Yale after a year to work
as a roughneck with a "cellar
gang" in a Texas oil field. Dur
ing the war, he enlisted as a
private, saw plenty of combat
in the Pacific, was ambushed,
badly burned by a kamikase,
suffered a siege of jaundice,
and finished up in Okinawa as
a lieutenant colonel. His un
fortunate marriage to "Bobo"
Obviously these five chips
off the old block are neither
milksops nor prigs. With their
disparate temperaments, out
siders often wonder how they
manage to harmonize on their
manifold joint enterprises.
There is competition, the bro
thers admit, but they say it
takes the form of an "uncon
scious stimulus." Binding them
together is a strong feeling of
family unity, a powerful sense
of purpose, and always the un
derlying conviction that wealth
brings responsibility.
"ETach of us puts something
in," they explain. "At
the same time, we mul
tiply our individual effort by
five. That way, you can pad
dle your own canoe while
working together. The basic
idea is to stick together as
a unit, despite our disagree
ments." They've built their reputa
tions not only through common
endeavors but also through in
dividual enterprises. For each
has carved out for himself
special fields of worthy proj
ects, giving freely of his time
as well as his money.
Consider, for instance, the
grandiose $75 million Lincoln
Center for the Performing
Arts, soon to rise in mid-Manhattan
with a new Metropolitan
Opera home, a concert hall,
drama and dance theaters, and
the Juilliard School of Music.
Because of his great skill as
conciliator and negotiator, the
almost ascetic John D., 3rd,
was chosen to be president of
the tremendous undertaking.
'To me it was a very chal
lenging opportunity," he says.
"With the new leisure in this
country, people have been
looking increasingly to the arts
as a means of attaining satis
faction. The center should go
as far as possible in making the
theater, opera, and ballet
broadly available. In the past,
for example, the Metropolitan
Opera has been for the few;
one wants to think of the cen
ter as for the many. All this
can contribute to the health
and happiness of people be
cause art is one of the basic
things they are striving for."
In other divergent areas,
John has special interests. The
chief philanthropist among the
brothers, he serves as chair
man of the half-billion-dollar
Rockefeller Foundation for the
advancement of scientific, med
ical, and social conditions all
over the world. Believing that
the future of America and Asia
are inextricably bound to
gether, he works diligently to
better relations between them,
helped to create the Japan So
ciety and the Asia Society.
Among other varied activities,
he established the Rockefeller
Public Service Awards to give
recognition to Federal em
ployees who perform an out
standing public service.
A markedly different field,
conservation of natural re
sources, appeals to Laurance.
He is president of Jackson
Hole Preserve, a nonprofit or-
Pi
Nelson Rockefeller, mentioned
prominently as a gubernatorial
candidate, is most ambitious
and versatile of the famed clan.
ganization to aid in conserving
areas of natural picturesque
scenery and opening them to
the public. His latest pet proj
ect is the Island of St. John in
the Virgin Islands. After he fell
in love with this bit of para
dise, Laurance decided the en
tire nation should share in its
delights and he got the Rocke
feller Brothers Fund to donate
$1 million toward its develop
ment. Two years ago, most of
the island was turned over to
the Government as a national
park and wildlife refuge,
Laurance spends the other
half of his time in such spheres
as cancer research and on such
adventurous investments as
nuclear development, space
equipment, jets, and electron
ics. Of Laurance, an associate
once observed that "he is
amused by many things and
not the least of them is being
a Rockefeller."
Otrancely, David the philo-
sophic scion is the
only brother who has
pursued a nine-to-five career
in finance. But he leavens his
job as board vice-chairman of
the Chase Manhattan Bank
(second largest in the U.S.)
with efforts in behalf of the
United Nations and urban re
development. When he took
over as chairman of the Rocke
feller Institute for Medical
Research, he revitalized it,
opening new horizons.
Closest to being a Rockefel
ler maverick is Winthrop, the
only brother to do hard, physi-
An Ike-backer, Nelson was
named special presidential as
sistant in 1954, but he also held
posts under Truman, Roosevelt.
II
Sears resulted in a rare type
of philanthropy for the Rocke
fellers, a $6 million divorce set
tlement Today in Arkansas,
Winthrop operates the famous
3,000-acre "Winrock" as a
practical model farm. His
proved farming methods, re
sulting from modern scientific
study, are being duplicated or
adapted by smaller farmers to
restore depleted land.
Even from Arkansas, Win
throp conforms to the Rocke
feller mold, performing as
chairman of Colonial Williams
burg and as a leading figure
with the National Urban
League, which deals with social
and economic problems of
Negroes.
"Winthrop's community has
been the common man," says
Laurance.
Most versatile member of the
team is Nelson, currently being
boomed for governor of New
York on the Republican ticket
this Fall. An almost fanatical
nonstop worker with enormous
moral earnestness, he'll tackle
any worthwhile assignment
anywhere, anytime.
At Dartmouth, where he
taught a girls' Sunday School
class, Nelson plugged his way
into Phi Beta Kappa. Starting
as a bank clerk, he turned to
real estate to help rent Rocke
feller Center and now is board
chairman of that vast venture.
Nelson's intimate knowledge of
Latin America led President
Roosevelt in 1940 to appoint
him Coordinator of Inter
American Affairs. In that post,
his greatest triumph was the
heroic task of compiling an
1,800-name blacklist of South
American business firms with
Axis sympathies. Ten years
later, President Truman picked
Nelson to head the Internal
Development Advisory Board,
charged with recommending
general policy toward under
developed areas.
President Eisenhower in
1952 also called on Nelson to
help streamline the executive
branch of the Government. Out
of the sprawling mass of inde
pendent agencies and append
ages, he was instrumental in
organizing the new Depart
ment of Health, Education, and
Welfare. During the Salk polio
vaccine snafu, it was Nelson
who was hastily summoned to
straighten out the mess. In
1954, for a year he was special
assistant to the President for
foreign affairs.
Outside of his pinch-hitting
Government jobs, the prodi
giously busy Nelson has some
how found time to be chairman
Laurance Rockefeller, specialist
in conservation, promoted de
velopment of St. John's Island.
(Continued on page IB)
Family Weekly. Auuit 1, 1951
15