Herald and news., November 08, 1959, Page 49, Image 49

cream). Nelson likes to be surrounded by stimu
lating thinkers. Often they are invited because
Rockefeller seeks their opinions and ideas in ad
ministering his office.
On Fridays the Rockefellers journey to their
27-room triplex apartment overlooking Cen
tral Park in New York City. More work here, but
also time for hobbies. Nelson sculptures in bronze
(but not well) and with Mrs. Rockefeller listens
to progressive jazz (favoring Dave Brubeck and
Dizzy Gillespie). He also moves about his price
less paintings, tirelessly seeking the "perfect spot"
for their hanging.
On Saturdays the Rockefellers are off for "home."
That's the 3,000-acre family estate near Tarrytown,
N. Y., where each of the five Rockefeller brothers
has a house. An elaborate playhouse with swim
ming pool, tennis court, bowling alley, and squash
courts, which their father built for them as young
sters, still gets plenty of use.
From this routine, the Nelson Rockefellers for
merly took frequent vacations. The press of state
business has cut down their holidays, but they re
main great tourists and try to get abroad yearly,
usually taking one or two of their children and
perhaps a niece or nephew.
Their place in Venezuela is supposedly a vaca
tion spot, too, but the 112,500 acres actually are
devoted to experimental farming, and Rockefeller
is usually on inspection rides with his manager
while his guests enjoy the 12-room white stucco
hacienda. This year the Rockefellers made only in
frequent visits to their summer home in Seal
Harbor, Me., because of the heavy schedule of work
in Albany.
On week-end mornings at the family estate, Nel
son prepares his own coffee and toast, then vigor
ously lives the country life riding, swimming,
playing golf. By 11 on Sunday, he and Mrs. Rocke
feller are at services at Union Church.
A deep-rooted sense of family closeness involves
the other four Rockefeller brothers, sister, their
respective wives, husband, children, and grand
children. There is intra-family house-hopping on
week ends, and one or more of Nelson's and Tod's
children come from school or their own homes.
Mrs. Rockefeller's grandchildren are admittedly
her "pride and joy." A tall (5-foot-10) woman
with a stately aloofness, she reveals an unexpected
warmth when dealing with children. She joins in
their games and keeps playthings in each of her
houses for their visits. A crib is always set up for
the youngest of the group.
She understands children, and they respond to
her. She recently sent a thank-you note to a
school class that had invited her to its art ex
hibit. Her secretary had addressed the letter "Dear
Children"; Mrs. Rockefeller returned it with a
scrawled note, "Please change that. Children don't
like to be called children."
Mrs. Rockefeller's outward coolness is under
standable for a mother who has had to protect
her children against prying, scheming, and the
cloud that hangs over every wealthy family
possible kidnaping. She has learned to stay out of
the public eye and be a zealous guardian of her
family's right to privacy.
This insistence on privacy is a characteristic in
stilled in the younger Rockefellers, too. In the light
of the inevitable publicity surrounding Steven's
marriage last summer to Anne-Marie Rasmussen,
the Norwegian girl who came to the U. S. to learn
English and worked as a housemaid for the Rocke
fellers, it is easy to forget that until their engage
ment was announced no one was aware of their
courtship. And afterward, despite the biggest press
coverage of a wedding since Grace Kelly married
Prince Rainier, no one knew where the young
couple spent their honeymoon. This is typical of
the Rockefellers, who realize that their money
makes them sufficiently interesting to the world at
large without having to cultivate eccentricities to
attract attention.
Recent events, however, have changed Mrs.
Rockefeller. On the night her husband was nomi
nated for governor, she experienced her first press
conference, a torture for even spotlight-loving
celebrities. One reporter asked boldly: "That dress
of yours is pretty plain hardly what people expect
a Rockefeller to wear in triumph. Where did you
get it? How much did it cost?"
Mrs. Rockefeller froze. Her husband's aides had
to step in pnd end the conference. But as the cam
paign got under way, Mrs. Rockefeller caught the
zest of politicking and even made an impromptu
speech in Spanish on a street corner in New York's
Puerto Rican section. Reporters who heard her
claim that she "wowed 'em."
Nelson and Mrs. Rockefeller have raised their
children much as John D., Jr., and his wife,
the late Abby Aldrich, brought up the third gener
ation. The Rockefellers traditionally start the day
with a prayer (Nelson keeps a Bible at his bed
side), attend Baptist Sunday schools, and learn a
strict code of "economy, work, and Godliness."
The children are imbued with a deep sense of
responsibility as citizens and a grave awareness
that the privileges of their wealth also bring obli
gations. The Rockefeller brothers, for example,
support charities, research, and special projects
amounting to $4 million a year.
The Rockefellers have a strong feeling for the
family as a unit. Nelson told each child individu
ally about his plan to run for governor. Each gave
enthusiastic approval and subsequently helped in
the campaign. When they moved into the mansion,
At "Monte Sacro". farm in
Venezuela, Governor and
Mrs. Rockefeller and guests
tour the countryside via jeep.
it was the governor, his wife, and their children
who unpacked the family silver and china and
helped hang the pictures they brought from the
New York apartment.
The oldest, Rodman, 27, lives in Westchester
with his wife, Barbara, and their two children. A
credit analyst, he was graduated from Dartmouth
a Phi Beta Kappa, as was his father. Ann, 25, a
serious-minded student of Biblical history, lives in
a Chicago suburb with her minister-husband, Rob
ert L. Pierson, and their three children.
Steven, now living in New York with his bride
Anne-Marie, received the Taylor Pine Prize as the
most outstanding undergraduate at Princeton.
When he was an enlisted man in the Army, he re
fused offers of influence, although he knew his
friends were right when they said: "You'll have a
tough time because your name is Rockefeller."
It was Steven who chauffeured his father to the
whistle-stop rallies during the political battle for
governor and was "another set of eyes and ears"
for him. Steven greatly enjoyed observing his
father's enthusiasm for his new role. One night
Rockefeller and his press entourape stopped for
gas on their way to a meeting. The candidate
jumped out of his car to catch everyone within
handshaking distance of the station. Steve grinned
and said: "Look at him next he'll be shaking
hands with the gas pumps'."
Michael and Mary, 21-year-old twins, are study
ing history and literature at Harvard and Vassar,
with no flashy cars or clothes to mark them as
members of one of the world's richest families.
(Their father didn't have a car on campus, either,
because his parents considered it an inadvisable
luxury.)
During the campaign, Mary worked as reception
ist in her father's New York headquarters, answer
ing phones, stamping envelopes, and generally
charming the constituents.
Michael is the most artistic, and his father
proudly displays among his priceless objets d'art
a modern sculpture in metal created by his son.
Like their parents, the Rockefeller children are
not interested in the night-club circuit. The na
tion's gossip columnists are frustrated by the
lack of "personality" news from the governor's
household. But despite Nelson's political ambitions
and the inevitable encroachment on their personal
lives, friends are willing to bet that the Rockefeller
family unity will never be sacrificed to his career
and that its pattern of privacy will never change.
After wedding, Steven and
Anne-Marie Rockefeller smile
happily while their parents
watch them with approval.
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