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{{short description|American politician (born 1937)}}
{{Infobox Senator | name=Jay Rockefeller
{{redirect|Senator Rockefeller|the Washington State Senate member|Phil Rockefeller}}
| nationality=american
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2017}}
| image name=Rockefeller Color 5x7.jpg
{{Infobox officeholder
| jr/sr and state=Junior Senator, ]
| name = Jay Rockefeller
| party=]
| image = Jay Rockefeller official photo.jpg
| term=January ]–Present
| jr/sr = United States Senator
| preceded=]
| state = ]
| succeeded=Incumbent (2009)
| term_start = January 15, 1985
| date of birth=], ]
| term_end = January 3, 2015
| place of birth=], ]
| predecessor = ]
| dead=alive
| successor = ]
| date of death=
| office1 = Chair of the ]
| place of death=
| term_start1 = January 3, 2009
| spouse=Sharon Percy
| term_end1 = January 3, 2015
| religion=]
| predecessor1 = ]
| successor1 = ]
| office2 = Chair of the ]
| term_start2 = January 3, 2007
| term_end2 = January 3, 2009
| predecessor2 = ]
| successor2 = ]
| office3 = Chair of the ]
| term_start3 = June 6, 2001
| term_end3 = January 3, 2003
| predecessor3 = ]
| successor3 = Arlen Specter
| term_start4 = January 3, 2001
| term_end4 = January 20, 2001
| predecessor4 = Arlen Specter
| successor4 = Arlen Specter
| term_start5 = January 3, 1993
| term_end5 = January 3, 1995
| predecessor5 = ]
| successor5 = ]
| order6 = 29th ]
| term_start6 = January 17, 1977
| term_end6 = January 14, 1985
| predecessor6 = ]
| successor6 = Arch A. Moore Jr.
| office7 = 22nd ]
| governor7 = Arch A. Moore Jr.
| term_start7 = January 13, 1969
| term_end7 = January 15, 1973
| predecessor7 = ]
| successor7 = ]
| office8 = Member of the<br> ]<br>from ]
| term_start8 = December 1, 1966
| term_end8 = December 1, 1968
| birth_name = John Rockefeller<ref name="West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2016">{{cite AV media |people= |date=June 21, 2015|title=Jay: A Rockefeller's Journey |trans-title= |type=Television production |language= |url=https://www.pbs.org/show/jay-a-rockefellers-journey/ |access-date=July 4, 2024 |format= |time= |location= |publisher=] |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote=My birth certificate says John Rockefeller... I wrote my grandfather and asked permission to change my name to John D. Rockefeller IV}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1937|6|18}}
| birth_place = ], ], U.S.
| party = ] (1966–present)
| otherparty = ] (before 1966)
| spouse = {{marriage|]|1967}}
| children = {{hlist|John D. Rockefeller V|]|Charles|]}}
| education = ] (])<br />]<br />]
| parents = ]<br />]
| relatives = See ]
| signature = Jay Rockefeller Signature.svg
| predecessor8 = {{Collapsible list
| title = 12 members
| Jesse S. Barker
| J.F. Bedell
| Thomas L. Black
| Pat Board
| Kelly L. Castleberry
| Kenneth L. Coghill
| Charles C. Dunaway
| James E. Kessinger
| Thomas A. Knight
| James W. Loop
| ]
| Fred Scott
}} }}
| successor8 = {{Collapsible list
| title = 4 members
| J. Dempsey Gibson
| Phillis J. Rutledge
| Sam C. Savilla
| Harlan Wilson
}}
| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Opening Statement of Sen. Jay Rockefeller at a Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on Patriot Act Reauthorization.ogg|title=Jay Rockefeller's voice|type=speech|description=Jay Rockefeller speaks at a ] hearing on reauthorizing the ]<br/>Recorded April 27, 2005}}
}}
'''John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV''' (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a ] from ] (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as ] (1977–1985). Rockefeller moved to ], to serve as a ] worker in 1964 and was first elected to public office as a member of the ] (1966–1968). Rockefeller was later elected ] (1968–1973) and was president of ] (1973–1975). He became the state's senior U.S. senator when the long-serving Senator ] died in June 2010.


Rockefeller is a great-grandson of oil ] ], who died less than a month before Jay's birth. He was the only serving politician of the Rockefeller family during his tenure in the ], and the only one to have held office as a ], in what has been a ] ] family (though he too was originally a Republican until he decided to run for office in the ]).<ref>Only Democrat in a staunchly Republican dynasty{{spaced ndash}}see {{cite book |first1=John Ensor |last1=Harr |first2=Peter J. |last2=Johnson |title=The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1988 |page= |isbn=0-684-18936-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/rockefellercentu00harr/page/394 }}</ref> Rockefeller did not seek reelection in ] and was succeeded by Republican ] ].<ref name=WAPOjan11>{{cite news |last = Weiner | first = Rachel | title = Jay Rockefeller won't run in 2014 | newspaper = Washington Post | date = January 11, 2013 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/01/11/jay-rockefeller-wont-run-in-2014/ | access-date = September 21, 2013 }}</ref>
'''John Davison Rockefeller IV''' (born on ], ]), generally known as '''Jay Rockefeller''', has served as a ] ] from ] since ]. He was ] from ] to ]. Rockefeller is a member of the prominent ] ], the great-grandson of oil ] ], and nephew of former ] ] and former ] ].


==Early life and education==
Born in ] to ] and ], Jay Rockefeller graduated from ] in ]. He graduated from ] in ] with a ] in Far Eastern Languages and ], after having spent three years studying ] at the ] in Tokyo.
John Davison Rockefeller IV was born at ] in ] to ] (1906–1978) and ] (1909–1992), 26 days after the death of his patrilineal great-grandfather, ] (1839–1937). He is a grandson of ] Jay graduated from ] in 1955. After his junior year at ], he spent three years studying Japanese at the ] in Tokyo.<ref name="people.com">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20085411,00.html |title=Jay Rockefeller |magazine=People |date=July 4, 1983 |first1=Cable |last1=Neuhaus |first2=Peter |last2=Carlson |access-date=September 23, 2014 }}</ref> He graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Far Eastern languages and history. He attended ] and did graduate work in Oriental studies and studied the Chinese language.<ref name="people.com"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=b63f2b0e-06f3-4fda-90ac-6084b102644c |title=ROCKEFELLER TO ACCOMPANY CLINTON TO CHINA |publisher=rockefeller.senate.gov |date=June 19, 1998 |access-date=September 23, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919104126/http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=b63f2b0e-06f3-4fda-90ac-6084b102644c |archive-date=September 19, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="wvculture"/>


After college, Rockefeller worked for the ] in ] where he served as the operations director for their largest overseas program in the ]. He continued his public service in ]&ndash;] as a ] volunteer, during which he moved to ], West Virginia. After college, Rockefeller worked for the ] in Washington, D.C., under President ], where he developed a friendship with Attorney General ] and worked as an assistant to Peace Corps Director ]. He served as the operations director for the Corps' largest overseas program, in the ]. He worked for a brief time in the ].<ref name="wvculture">{{cite web |url=http://www.wvculture.org/history/jayrock.html |title=John Davison Rockefeller, IV |work=West Virginia Division of Culture and History |access-date=September 23, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222165226/http://www.wvculture.org/history/jayrock.html |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> He continued his public service in 1964–1965 in the ] (VISTA), under President ], during which time he moved to ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wvgazettemail.com/dailymailwv/daily_mail_features/jay-rockefeller-wv-toyota-plant-is-a-dream-realized-daily/article_efd1ea68-3c06-58aa-9f3e-3f604fb57cb0.html|title=Jay Rockefeller: WV Toyota plant is a dream realized (Daily Mail WV)|first=Sen. Jay|last=Rockefeller|website=wvgazettemail.com|date=July 19, 2018 |access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref>


==Career==
He was elected to the ] in ], and to the office of ] in ]. He served as president of ] from ] to ].


=== State politics ===
Rockefeller was elected Governor of West Virginia in 1976 and re-elected in ]. He served as Governor during some of the state's darkest years, when manufacturing plants and coal mines were closing as the national recession of the early 1980s hit West Virginia particularly hard. By working aggressively, taking a long-term view and emphasizing the loyalty and work ethic of West Virginia's workers, Rockefeller has attracted national and international companies to the Mountain State.
], July 1984]]
Rockefeller was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1966. During his tenure, in the summer of 1968, after ]'s assassination, his uncle ], governor of New York, offered him to take up the Senator's seat. He would ultimately refuse.


He was later elected to the office of ] in 1968. He won the Democratic nomination for governor in ] but was defeated in the general election by the Republican incumbent, ]. Rockefeller then served as president of ] from 1973 to 1975.
In ], he was elected to the ]. He was re-elected in ], ] and ]. He was chair of the ] (]&ndash;]; ] to ], ], and ], ]&ndash;], ]). He is currently vice-chairman of the ].


Rockefeller was elected ] in ] and re-elected in ]. He served as governor when manufacturing plants and coal mines were closing as the national ] of the early 1980s hit West Virginia particularly hard. Between 1982 and 1984, West Virginia's unemployment rate hovered between 15 and 20 percent.
Rockefeller voted against the ] ].


=== U.S. Senate ===
Since 1967, Rockefeller has been married to the former Sharon Percy, the daughter of former U.S. Senator ] of Illinois. Senator and Mrs. Rockefeller have four children: ], ], Charles, and ]. Jamie's wife Emily is the daughter of ] Commissioner ]. The Rockefellers reside in ].


==== Elections ====
In ], he was elected to the United States Senate, narrowly defeating businessman ] as ] easily carried the state in the ]. As in his 1980 gubernatorial campaign against Arch Moore, Rockefeller spent over $12 million to win a Senate seat. He was re-elected in ], ], ] and ] by substantial margins. He was chair of the ] (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).


]


==== Overview ====
== 2002 Trip to Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia ==
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 ] as the Democratic nominee.<ref>{{cite news|author=R. W. Apple Jr. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DA133FF933A25757C0A964958260 |title=THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Front-Runner; Like Voters, Superdelegates Have Doubts About Clinton |newspaper=New York Times |date=April 10, 1992 |access-date=July 13, 2010}}</ref>


He chaired the prominent Senate ] (retiring in January 2009), from which he commented frequently on the ].
In 2002, Senator Rockefeller travelled to several ] countries, during which he discussed his view regarding United States military intentions with the leaders of those countries. Rockefeller was quoted in November 2005 as saying: "I took a trip by myself in January of 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 which had taken shape shortly after 9/11."


In 1993, Rockefeller became the principal Senate supporter, with ], behind Bill and ]'s ], liaising closely with the ], opening up his mansion next to Rock Creek Park for its first strategy meeting. The reform was subsequently defeated by an alliance between the ] and a small-business coalition.<ref>The Clintons and health care reform{{spaced ndash}}see {{cite book |first1=Haynes |last1=Johnson |first2=David S. |last2=Broder |title=The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1996 |isbn=0-316-46969-6 |pages= |url=https://archive.org/details/systemamericanwa00john/page/32 }}</ref>
==External links==
*
*


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 ]'s alleged ] program while addressing the U.S. Senate:
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{{succession box | before = ] | title = ] | years = ]&ndash;] | after = ]}}
{{succession box | before = ] | title = ] | years = ]&ndash;] | after = ]}}
{{succession box | before = ] | title = ] | years =]&ndash; | after = Incumbent}}
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{{blockquote|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 ], 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!<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web | title = Statement of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV on the Senate Floor On the Iraq Resolution | work = senate.gov | date = October 10, 2002 | url = https://www.senate.gov/~rockefeller/news/2002/flrstmt0102002.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031203132544/https://www.senate.gov/~rockefeller/news/2002/flrstmt0102002.html | archive-date = December 3, 2003}}</ref>}}
{{WV-FedRep}}


In November 2005 during a TV interview, Rockefeller stated,
{{Current U.S. Senators}}

<blockquote>I took a trip ... in January 2002 to ], ] and ], and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that ] 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.</blockquote>

Rockefeller noted that the comment expresses his personal opinion, and that he was not privy to any confidential information that such action was planned.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175433,00.html |title=Transcript: Sens. Roberts, Rockefeller on 'FNS' - FOX News Sunday |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=November 14, 2005 |access-date=July 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031125157/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175433,00.html |archive-date=October 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> On October 11, 2002, he was one of 77 senators who voted for the ] authorizing the Iraq invasion.

In February 2010, regarding President Obama, Rockefeller said,

<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

Rockefeller faced criticism from West Virginia coal companies, which claimed that he was out of touch.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Raby|first1=John|last2=Smith|first2=Vicki|title=Jay Rockefeller Retiring: West Virginia Senator Won't Run Again When Term Ends In 2014|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/jay-rockefeller-resigns_n_2455812.html|access-date=August 15, 2014|work=Huffington Post|date=January 11, 2013}}</ref>

]]]

Rockefeller became the senior ] 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 ] at ]'s newspapers in the United Kingdom had targeted American victims of the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-13/sen-jay-rockefeller-seeks-u-s-agency-probes-of-news-corp-phone-hacking.html|title=Sen. Jay Rockefeller Seeks U.S. Agency Probes of News Corp. Phone Hacking|access-date=July 23, 2011|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=July 13, 2011|first=Anthony|last=Palazzo}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8642432/Phone-hacking-Rupert-Murdochs-US-woes-develop-legs.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8642432/Phone-hacking-Rupert-Murdochs-US-woes-develop-legs.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Phone hacking: Rupert Murdoch's US woes develop legs|access-date=July 23, 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=July 17, 2011|location=London|first=Richard|last=Blackden}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Rockefeller and ] subsequently wrote to the oversight committee of ] (a subsidiary of News Corporation) to request that it conduct an investigation into the hiring of former CEO ], and whether any current or former executives had knowledge of or played a role in phone hacking.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8651236/Phone-hacking-US-senators-increase-pressure-on-Les-Hinton.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8651236/Phone-hacking-US-senators-increase-pressure-on-Les-Hinton.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Phone hacking: US senators increase pressure on Les Hinton|access-date=July 23, 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=July 21, 2011|location=London|first=Alex|last=Spillius}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS212821080920110720|title=Senators Call for Dow Jones Inquiry|access-date=July 23, 2011|work=Reuters|date=July 20, 2011}}</ref>

He announced on January 11, 2013, that he would not run for a sixth term.<ref name=WAPOjan11 /> On March 25, 2013, Rockefeller announced his support for ].<ref>{{cite web |last = Parnass | first = Sarah | title = Senators Abandon 'Discriminatory' DOMA Before Supreme Court Arguments | work = abcnews.go.com | publisher = ABC News | date = March 25, 2013 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/senators-abandon-discriminatory-doma-before-supreme-court-arguments/ | access-date = September 21, 2013 }}</ref>

In November 2014, Rockefeller donated his senatorial archives to the West Virginia University Libraries and the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=WVU announces new school, gallery honoring Jay Rockefeller as his senatorial archives find 'forever home'|url=http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2014/11/08/wvu-announces-new-school-gallery-honoring-jay-rockefeller-as-his-senatorial-archives-find-forever-home|website=WVU Today|publisher=West Virginia University|access-date=April 7, 2016}}</ref> The archival collection documents his 30-year career in the United States Senate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jay Rockefeller|url=https://rockefeller.lib.wvu.edu/|website=West Virginia & Regional History Center|publisher=West Virginia University Libraries|access-date=April 7, 2016}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/john_rockefeller/300084 |title = John "Jay" Rockefeller IV, former Senator for West Virginia}}</ref>

Rockefeller, along with his son Charles,<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Rockefeller's Opening Speech |url=https://asiasociety.org/japan/charles-rockefellers-opening-speech |access-date=7 September 2018 |website=asiasociety.org}}</ref> is a trustee of New York's ], which was established by his father in 1956. He is also a member of the ],<ref>{{cite web |title=Senator Jay Rockefeller Joins CFR as Distinguished Fellow |url=https://www.cfr.org/news-releases/senator-jay-rockefeller-joins-cfr-distinguished-fellow |access-date=7 September 2018 |website=cfr.org}}</ref> a nonprofit ] previously chaired by his uncle, ]. As a senator, he voted against the 1993 ], which was heavily backed by David Rockefeller.

==== Committees ====
Rockefeller served on the following committees in the ]:

*''']''' (chairman)
**As chair of the full committee, Sen. Rockefeller may serve as an '']'' member of all subcommittees
*''']'''
**] (chairman)
**]
**]
*''']'''
*''']'''
*''']'''

==Political positions==
===Iraq War===
Rockefeller initially supported the use of force based upon the evidence presented by the intelligence community that linked Iraq to nuclear ambitions. After the ], in which the Bush administration gave forged documents to U.N. weapons inspectors to support allegations against Iraq, Rockefeller started an investigation into the falsification and exaggeration of evidence for the war. Through the investigations, he became an outspoken critic of Bush and the Iraq war. As chair of the Intelligence committee, he presided over a critical report on the administration's ].

Rockefeller and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the final two pieces of the Phase II report on Iraq war intelligence on June 5, 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=298774 |title=Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) |publisher=Rockefeller.senate.gov |access-date=July 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202055708/http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=298774 |archive-date=December 2, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Rockefeller said, "The president and his advisers undertook a relentless public campaign in the aftermath of the attacks to use the war against Al Qaeda as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/world/middleeast/06intel.html|title=Bush Overstated Iraq Evidence, Senators Report|first=Mark Mazzetti and Scott|last=Shane|date=June 6, 2008|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>

===Television violence===
In July 2007, Rockefeller announced that he planned to introduce legislation before the August congressional recess that would give the FCC the power to regulate TV violence. According to the edition of July 16, 2007, of Broadcasting & Cable, the new law would apply to both broadcast as well as cable and satellite programming. This would mark the first time that the FCC would be given power to regulate such a vast spectrum of content, which would include almost everything except material produced strictly for direct internet use. An aide to the senator said that his staff had also been carefully formulating the bill in such a way that it would be able to pass constitutional scrutiny by the courts.

===Telecommunications companies===
In 2007, Rockefeller began steering the Senate Intelligence Committee to grant ] who were accused of unlawfully assisting the ] (NSA) in monitoring the communications of American citizens.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-19-na-fisa19-story.html|title=Senate panel OKs spy measure | work=] |date=October 19, 2007 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref>

This was an about-face of sorts for Senator Rockefeller, who had hand-written a letter to Vice President ] in 2003 expressing his concerns about the legality of NSA's warrantless wire-tapping program. Some have attributed this change of heart to the spike in contributions from telecommunications companies to the senator just as these companies began lobbying Congress to protect them from lawsuits regarding their cooperation with the ].<ref name="wired">{{cite news|first=Ryan |last=Singel |url=http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/dem-pushing-spy.html |title=Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash | work= Threat Level from Wired.com (blog) |publisher=wired.com |date= October 18, 2007|access-date=July 13, 2010}}</ref>

Between 2001 and the start of this lobbying effort, AT&T employees had contributed only $300 to the senator.<ref name="wired" /> After the lobbying effort began, AT&T employees and executives donated $19,350 in three months.<ref name="wired" /> The senator has pledged not to rely on his vast fortune to fund his campaigns,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/437.html?SITE=NCGRDELN&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |title=Election 2008 |publisher=Hosted.ap.org |access-date=July 13, 2010 |archive-date= December 10, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210230929/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/437.html?SITE=NCGRDELN&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT}}</ref> and the AT&T contributions represent about 2% of the money he raised during the previous year.<ref name="wired" />

===Torture===
Although publicly deploring torture, Rockefeller was one of two congressional Democrats briefed on ] and other secret CIA practices in the early years of the Bush administration, as well as the existence of taped evidence of such interrogations (]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rockefeller.senate.gov/news/2007/pr120607a.html |publisher=U.S. Senate website |title=Chairman Rockefeller Statement on the CIA Decision to Destroy Tapes of Early Detainee Interrogations |date=December 6, 2007 |access-date=December 11, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071213104052/http://rockefeller.senate.gov/news/2007/pr120607a.html |archive-date = December 13, 2007}}</ref> In December 2007, Rockefeller opposed a special counsel or commission inquiry into the destruction of the tapes, stating "it is the job of the intelligence committees to do that."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyL3au-RZxEcch2P9ymXaJ9mroogD8TER1IO0 |title=White House Stays Quiet on CIA Tapes |author=Calvin Woodward |agency=Associated Press |date=December 10, 2007 |access-date=December 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070609092030/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyL3au-RZxEcch2P9ymXaJ9mroogD8TER1IO0 |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

On September 28, 2006, Rockefeller voted with a largely Republican majority to suspend ] provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant," barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Rockefeller's vote gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, permitting the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609290178sep29,1,1387725.story |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090224105706/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609290178sep29,1,1387725.story |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 24, 2009 |title=Tribunal bill OKd by Senate |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |author1=William Neikirk |author2=Andrew Zajac |author3=Mark Silva |date=September 29, 2006 |access-date=September 29, 2006 }}</ref>
Rockefeller's vote authorized the President to establish permissible interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international ] standards, so long as the coercion fell short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washington/29detain.html |title=Senate Passes Broad New Detainee Rules |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 28, 2006 |access-date=December 10, 2007 | first=Kate | last=Zernike}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4223241.html |title=Senate OKs detainee interrogation bill |agency=Associated Press |author=Anne Plummer Flaherty |date=September 28, 2006 |access-date=September 29, 2006 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The bill became law on October 17, 2006.

===2008 presidential election===
On February 29, 2008, he endorsed ] for president of the United States, citing Obama's judgment on the Iraq war and national security issues, and calling him the right candidate to lead America during a time of instability at home and abroad. This endorsement stood in stark contrast to the results of the state primary that was easily won by ].

On April 7, 2008, in an interview for '']'', Rockefeller criticized ]:

<blockquote>McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.<ref>"Jay Defends Endorsement of Sen. Obama" ''Charleston (WV) Gazette'', 2008-04-08. wvgazette.com. (fee required).</ref><ref> ''FoxNews''.com (AP) 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2010-11-22.</ref></blockquote>

The McCain campaign called for an apology from Senator Rockefeller and for ], whom Rockefeller endorsed, to denounce the comment. Rockefeller later apologized for the comment<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_099204606.html |title=Rockefeller apologizes to McCain over Vietnam service comment |publisher=Register-herald.com, Beckley WV |date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref> and the Obama campaign issued a statement expressing Obama's disagreement with the comment. Senator ] (R) of South Carolina noted that "John didn't drop bombs from 35,000 feet. ... the bombs were not laser guided (in the 1960 and 1970s)".<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409171023/http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/08/rockefeller-apologizes-for-saying-mccain-doesnt-care-about-lives-of-war-bystanders/ |date=April 9, 2008 }}</ref>

===Cybersecurity===
On April 1, 2009, Rockefeller introduced the ] before Congress. Citing the vulnerability of the Internet to cyber-attacks, the bill makes provisions to turn the Department of Commerce into a public-private clearing house to share potential threat information with the owners of large private networks. It authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to sequester any information deemed necessary, without regard to any law.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/773/text |title=Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Sec. 14 |publisher=Library of congress |author=Senator John D. Rockefeller |date=April 1, 2009 |access-date=June 15, 2009 }}</ref>

It would also authorizes the president to declare an undefined "cyber-emergency" which would allow them to shut down any and all traffic to what they considers to be a compromised server.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/773/text |title=Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Sec. 18 |publisher=Library of congress |author=Senator John D. Rockefeller |date=April 1, 2009 |access-date=June 15, 2009 }}</ref>

On June 1, 2011, Rockefeller sponsored the fourth West Virginia Homeland Security Summit and Expo. The event ran two days and focused on homeland security with Rockefeller emphasizing cybersecurity.<ref></ref>

===Health care===
In 1997, Rockefeller co-authored the ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=281817|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603151738/http://rockefeller.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=281817|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 June 2011|title= ROCKEFELLER CHILDREN'S HEALTH BILL PASSES SENATE|date=2 August 2007|website=rockefeller.senate.gov|via=archive.org|access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref> (CHIP) – a program aimed at giving low-income children health insurance coverage. Annually, CHIP has been successfully covering about 6 million children, who otherwise would have been uninsured. On September 30, 2007, the program expired, requiring Congress to reauthorize the legislation. On August 2, 2007, the vote for reauthorization passed legislation by a strong, bipartisan vote (68–31).

Rockefeller authored successful legislation that required the Department of Veterans Affairs, for the first time, to provide a wide range of extended care services—such as home health care, adult day care, respite care, and hospice care—to veterans who use the VA health care system.

Rockefeller is also a strong supporter of the fight against Alzheimer's and neurological disease. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brni.org|title=Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute - School of Medicine - West Virginia University|website=brni.org|access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref> was founded in Morgantown in 1999 by Rockefeller and his family to help advance medical and scientific understanding of Alzheimer's and other diseases of the brain. BRNI is the world's only non-profit institute dedicated exclusively to the study of both human memory and diseases of memory. Its primary mission is to accelerate neurological discoveries from the lab, including diagnostic tools and treatments, to the clinic to benefit patients who suffer from neurological and psychiatric diseases. A $30 million state-of-the-art BRNI research facility was opened at West Virginia University in Fall 2008. The approximately {{convert|80,000|sqft|m2}} three-level building will house 100 scientists by 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wvumedicine.org/rni/who-we-are/the-rockefeller-family/|title=The Rockefeller Family and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute - WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute|website=wvumedicine.org|access-date=September 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110323/https://wvumedicine.org/rni/who-we-are/the-rockefeller-family/|archive-date=September 7, 2018|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On Healthcare Reform, Rockefeller has been a proponent of a ], fighting with some Democrats on the finance committee, in particular ], the chairman of the committee, who contended that there was not enough support for a public option to gather the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. Baucus asked repeatedly for Rockefeller to stop speaking on the issue.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/29/AR2009092903063.html |title=Washington Sketch: Democratic Fratricide Begins |newspaper=Washington Post |author=Dana Milbank |date=September 30, 2009 |access-date=September 30, 2009 }}</ref>

On September 29, 2009, Rockefeller offered an amendment to the ] in the Senate Finance Committee to add a public option. The amendment was rejected 15 to 8, with five Democrats (Baucus, ], ], ], ]) and all Republicans voting no.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/health/policy/30health.html|title=Senators Reject Pair of Public Option Proposals |last=Pear|first=Robert|author2=Jackie Calmes|date=September 29, 2009|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2009}}</ref>

Rockefeller supported President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted for the ] in December 2009,<ref>{{cite web | title = U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote, H.R. 3950 | work = senate.gov | date = December 24, 2009 | url = https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00396 | access-date = September 21, 2013 }}</ref> and he voted for the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00105 |title=U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=August 29, 2010}}</ref>

==Electoral history==
{{Election box begin no change
| title=1966 West Virginia House of Delegates election in ]<br>''Elect Fourteen''}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 36,789
| percentage = 4.63
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Cleo S. Jones
| votes = 32,901
| percentage = 4.14
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Walter W. Carey
| votes = 31,924
| percentage = 4.02
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = George K.W. Woo
| votes = 31,492
| percentage = 3.96
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Ivor F. Boiarsky
| votes = 30,802
| percentage = 3.88
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Lon Clark Kinder
| votes = 29,992
| percentage = 3.77
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Paul Zakaib
| votes = 29,947
| percentage = 3.77
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = James Clay Jeter
| votes = 29,721
| percentage = 3.74
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Si Galperin
| votes = 29,429
| percentage = 3.70
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Leo G. Kopelman
| votes = 29,266
| percentage = 3.68
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Alfred A. Lilly
| votes = 28,746
| percentage = 3.62
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Thomas E. Potter
| votes = 28,704
| percentage = 3.61
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Eric Nelson Sr.
| votes = 28,333
| percentage = 3.57
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Russell L. Davisson
| votes = 28,331
| percentage = 3.57
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Thomas A. Knight
| votes = 28,319
| percentage = 3.56
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Charles Young
| votes = 28,043
| percentage = 3.53
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = James W. Thornhill
| votes = 27,765
| percentage = 3.49
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = William Ricks
| votes = 27,480
| percentage = 3.46
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Blanche Horan
| votes = 27,458
| percentage = 3.46
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 26,434
| percentage = 3.33
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = J.F. Bedell Jr.
| votes = 26,222
| percentage = 3.30
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Kelly L. Castleberry
| votes = 26,125
| percentage = 3.29
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jesse S. Barker
| votes = 26,030
| percentage = 3.28
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Dempsey Gibson
| votes = 25,888
| percentage = 3.26
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Fred L. Scott
| votes = 25,616
| percentage = 3.22
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = James K. Thomas Jr.
| votes = 24,967
| percentage = 3.14
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Pat Board Jr.
| votes = 24,559
| percentage = 3.09
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = L.E. Thompson
| votes = 23,224
| percentage = 2.92
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=1968 West Virginia ] election
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 433,142
| percentage = 60.92
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = John S. Callebs
| votes = 277,877
| percentage = 39.08
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 423,817
| percentage = 54.74
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 350,462
| percentage = 45.26
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 495,661
| percentage = 66.15
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 253,420
| percentage = 33.82
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 401,863
| percentage = 54.15
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 337,240
| percentage = 45.44
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 374,233
| percentage = 51.82
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 344,680
| percentage = 47.73
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 276,234
| percentage = 68.32
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 128,071
| percentage = 31.68
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 456,526
| percentage = 76.65
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = Betty Burks
| votes = 139,088
| percentage = 23.35
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 275,281
| percentage = 63.11
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 160,902
| percentage = 36.89
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title=]
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Democratic Party
| candidate = Jay Rockefeller
| votes = 447,985
| percentage = 63.71
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = West Virginia Republican Party
| candidate = ]
| votes = 255,074
| percentage = 36.27
}}
{{Election box end}}

==Personal life==
Since 1967, Rockefeller has been married to ], the chief executive officer of ], the leading ] station in the Washington, D.C., area, which broadcasts such programs as '']'' and '']''. She is a twin daughter of Senator ] (1919–2011) and Jeanne Valerie Dickerson.

Jay and Sharon have four children:
*John Davison "Jamie" Rockefeller V (born 1969), who is married to Emily Rockefeller. She is the daughter of former ] (NFL) Commissioner ]. They have two daughters, Laura Chandler Rockefeller (born c. 2000) and Sophia Percy Rockefeller (born c. 2002),<ref>{{cite news |last=Comins |first=Linda |date=September 15, 2007 |title=Rockefellers Welcome Their First Grandson |work=Wheeling New-Register |url=http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/53082.html?nav=505 |access-date=January 16, 2013 |archive-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003142646/http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/53082.html?nav=505 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and one son, John Davison Rockefeller VI (born c. 2007).
*] (born 1971),<ref>Public Voter Records (Connecticut)</ref> who was married twice, initially to James Douglas Carnegie in 2000<ref>{{Cite news |date=2000-05-14 |title=WEDDINGS; Valerie Rockefeller, James Carnegie |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/style/weddings-valerie-rockefeller-james-carnegie.html |access-date=2023-04-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and currently to Steven William Wayne in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-09-19 |title=Valerie Rockefeller, Steven Wayne |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/19/fashion/weddings/valerie-rockefeller-steven-wayne.html |access-date=2023-04-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She has two daughters, Percy Rockefeller Wayne and Lucy Rockefeller Wayne, and one son, Davis Rockefeller Wayne. Her husband is an executive for ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marriott |first=Robin |date=2013-01-18 |title=Jensen takes re-opened Russia fund to $155m |url=https://www.perenews.com/jensen-takes-re-opened-russia-fund-to-155m/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=PERE |language=en-GB}}</ref> They reside in ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Valerie Rockefeller Wayne - NYC Junior Ambassadors |url=https://www.nyc.gov/site/juniorambassadors/about/valerie-rockefeller.page#:~:text=Valerie%20lives%20with%20her%20husband,firm%20he%20founded%20in%201991. |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=www.nyc.gov}}</ref>
*Charles P. Rockefeller (born 1973), an entrepreneur in ], as well as trustee of ], ] and member of the president's council of the ]. He resides in ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.design-studio.co.il |first=Design-Studio |title=DC Finance's Global Family Office and High Net Worth Individual Community |url=https://www.dc-finance.com/mr.-charles-rockefeller |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=www.dc-finance.com |language=he}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karen |date=2018-12-17 |title=Valerie Rockefeller and Dawn Fitzpatrick Are Honored at Women's History Institute Dinner |url=https://hudsonvalley.org/article/valerie-rockefeller-and-dawn-fitzpatrick-are-honored-at-womens-history-institute-dinner/ |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Historic Hudson Valley |language=en-US}}</ref>
*] (born 1979), married to ] since 2006. They have two daughters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Justin Rockefeller |url=https://www.rbf.org/people/justin-rockefeller |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=Rockefeller Brothers Fund |language=en}}</ref>

The Rockefellers reside in Northwest Washington, D.C.,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://architectofthecapital.org/posts/2016/7/12/rockefeller-mansion-in-rock-creek-park|title=Check Out The Rockefeller Mansion in Rock Creek Park|website=architectofthecapital.org|date=October 16, 2016 |access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref> and maintain permanent residence in ]. They have a ranch in the ] in ], ]. President ], a friend of Rockefeller's, and the Clinton family vacationed at the ranch in August 1995.<ref>{{cite news|last=Brozan |first=Nadine |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html |title=Chronicle |location=Jackson Hole (Wyo) |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 12, 1995 |access-date=July 13, 2010}}</ref>

Rockefeller is related to several Republican Party supporters and former officeholders: his paternal grandmother ] (1874–1948) was a daughter of ] Senator ] (1841–1915). ] (1874–1960) and Abby's youngest son was banker David Rockefeller (1915–2017). David's brother ] (1912–1973) served as Governor of Arkansas (1967–71). Winthrop and David's brother ] (1908–1979) served as Governor of New York (1959–73) and as Vice President of the United States (1974–77) under President ]. Jay is also a first cousin of Arkansas Lt. Governor ] (1948–2006).

==Awards and decorations==
* {{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=80}} ], 2009
*]&nbsp;&nbsp;Grand Cordon ] (Japan), 2013.
*National Consumers League first-ever (shared with Sen. Tom Harkin), commemorating their service to America's consumers and workers; Rockefeller also received the in 1992.

==See also==
*]
*]
*]
*] Rockefeller chaired this committee.
*]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*''Jay Rockefeller: Old Money, New Politics'', Richard Grimes, Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company, 1984.
*''The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point'', Haynes Johnson and David S. Broder, Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1996. (Significant mention)
;Senator
* {{CongLinks | congbio=r000361 | votesmart=53360 | fec=S4WV00027 | congress=jay-rockefeller/1424 }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* at ]
* at ]
* at ]
* at '']''
* at ]
* at ]
* at '']''
* at LegiStorm.com
* at ]
* in libraries (] catalog)
* on ] programs
* on ]
* at the ]
* at '']''
* at '']''
* at '']''
* -->
;Governor
* at West Virginia Archives and History
**
**
* at the ]

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Jay Rockefeller}}
*{{C-SPAN|1238}}
;Articles
* Rockefeller's agenda on becoming chairman in January 2007.
* at the ]

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| title = ]
| years = 1969–1973
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| title = ]
| years = 1977–1985
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{{s-aft
| after = Arch A. Moore Jr.
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{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Joe F. Burdett}}
{{s-ttl|title=] nominee for ]|years=1968}}
{{s-aft|after=Thomas A. Winner}}
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| before = ]
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| title = Democratic nominee for Governor of West Virginia
| years = ], ], ]
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| before = Jennings Randolph
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| title = {{nowrap|] nominee for ] from West Virginia}}<br />(])
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| title = Chairman of the ]
| years = 1993–1995
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| title = Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
| years = 2001
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{{s-ttl
| title = Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
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Latest revision as of 06:29, 10 January 2025

American politician (born 1937) "Senator Rockefeller" redirects here. For the Washington State Senate member, see Phil Rockefeller.

Jay Rockefeller
United States Senator
from West Virginia
In office
January 15, 1985 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byJennings Randolph
Succeeded byShelley Moore Capito
Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byDaniel Inouye
Succeeded byJohn Thune
Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byPat Roberts
Succeeded byDianne Feinstein
Chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
In office
June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byArlen Specter
Succeeded byArlen Specter
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
Preceded byArlen Specter
Succeeded byArlen Specter
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded byAlan Cranston
Succeeded byAlan Simpson
29th Governor of West Virginia
In office
January 17, 1977 – January 14, 1985
Preceded byArch A. Moore Jr.
Succeeded byArch A. Moore Jr.
22nd Secretary of State of West Virginia
In office
January 13, 1969 – January 15, 1973
GovernorArch A. Moore Jr.
Preceded byRobert D. Bailey Jr.
Succeeded byHike Heiskell
Member of the
West Virginia House of Delegates
from Kanawha County
In office
December 1, 1966 – December 1, 1968
Preceded by 12 members
  • Jesse S. Barker
  • J.F. Bedell
  • Thomas L. Black
  • Pat Board
  • Kelly L. Castleberry
  • Kenneth L. Coghill
  • Charles C. Dunaway
  • James E. Kessinger
  • Thomas A. Knight
  • James W. Loop
  • Jack L. Pauley
  • Fred Scott
Succeeded by 4 members
  • J. Dempsey Gibson
  • Phillis J. Rutledge
  • Sam C. Savilla
  • Harlan Wilson
Personal details
BornJohn Rockefeller
(1937-06-18) June 18, 1937 (age 87)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (1966–present)
Other political
affiliations
Republican (before 1966)
Spouse Sharon Percy ​(m. 1967)
Children
Parent(s)John Davison Rockefeller III
Blanchette Ferry Hooker
RelativesSee Rockefeller family
EducationHarvard University (BA)
International Christian University
Yale University
Signature
Jay Rockefeller's voice Jay Rockefeller speaks at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on reauthorizing the Patriot Act
Recorded April 27, 2005

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 (1977–1985). 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 (1966–1968). Rockefeller was later elected secretary of state of West Virginia (1968–1973) and was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College (1973–1975). He became the state's senior U.S. senator when the long-serving Senator Robert Byrd died in June 2010.

Rockefeller is a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who died less than a month before Jay's birth. He was the only serving politician of the Rockefeller family during his tenure in the United States Senate, and the only one to have held office as a Democrat, in what has been a traditionally Republican family (though he too was originally a Republican until he decided to run for office in the then-heavily Democratic state). Rockefeller did not seek reelection in 2014 and was succeeded by Republican U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito.

Early life and education

John Davison Rockefeller IV was born at New York Hospital in Manhattan to John Davison Rockefeller III (1906–1978) and Blanchette Ferry Hooker (1909–1992), 26 days after the death of his patrilineal great-grandfather, John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937). He is a grandson of John D. 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. 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.

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 Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. 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.

Career

State politics

Governor Rockefeller giving a speech aboard USS Stump, July 1984

Rockefeller was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1966. During his tenure, in the summer of 1968, after Robert Kennedy's assassination, his uncle Nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York, offered him to take up the Senator's seat. He would ultimately refuse.

He was later elected 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, 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

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. He 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 Robert C. Byrd, Bob Dole, Strom Thurmond and Jennings Randolph, Vice President George H.W. Bush administers the oath of office for 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 Bill Clinton as the Democratic nominee.

He chaired 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.

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!

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. 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.

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 attacks. 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.

He announced on January 11, 2013, that he would not run for a sixth term. On March 25, 2013, Rockefeller announced his support for gay marriage.

In November 2014, Rockefeller donated his senatorial archives to the West Virginia University Libraries and the West Virginia & Regional History Center. The archival collection documents his 30-year career in the United States Senate.

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.

Rockefeller, along with his son Charles, 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, 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.

Committees

Rockefeller served on the following committees in the 112th Congress:

Political positions

Iraq War

Rockefeller initially supported the use of force based upon the evidence presented by the intelligence community that linked Iraq to nuclear ambitions. After the Niger uranium forgeries, in which the Bush administration gave forged documents to U.N. weapons inspectors to support allegations against Iraq, Rockefeller started an investigation into the falsification and exaggeration of evidence for the war. Through the investigations, he became an outspoken critic of Bush and the Iraq war. As chair of the Intelligence committee, he presided over a critical report on the administration's handling of intelligence and war operations.

Rockefeller and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the final two pieces of the Phase II report on Iraq war intelligence on June 5, 2008. Rockefeller said, "The president and his advisers undertook a relentless public campaign in the aftermath of the attacks to use the war against Al Qaeda as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein."

Television violence

In July 2007, Rockefeller announced that he planned to introduce legislation before the August congressional recess that would give the FCC the power to regulate TV violence. According to the edition of July 16, 2007, of Broadcasting & Cable, the new law would apply to both broadcast as well as cable and satellite programming. This would mark the first time that the FCC would be given power to regulate such a vast spectrum of content, which would include almost everything except material produced strictly for direct internet use. An aide to the senator said that his staff had also been carefully formulating the bill in such a way that it would be able to pass constitutional scrutiny by the courts.

Telecommunications companies

In 2007, Rockefeller began steering the Senate Intelligence Committee to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who were accused of unlawfully assisting the National Security Agency (NSA) in monitoring the communications of American citizens.

This was an about-face of sorts for Senator Rockefeller, who had hand-written a letter to Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003 expressing his concerns about the legality of NSA's warrantless wire-tapping program. Some have attributed this change of heart to the spike in contributions from telecommunications companies to the senator just as these companies began lobbying Congress to protect them from lawsuits regarding their cooperation with the National Security Agency.

Between 2001 and the start of this lobbying effort, AT&T employees had contributed only $300 to the senator. After the lobbying effort began, AT&T employees and executives donated $19,350 in three months. The senator has pledged not to rely on his vast fortune to fund his campaigns, and the AT&T contributions represent about 2% of the money he raised during the previous year.

Torture

Although publicly deploring torture, Rockefeller was one of two congressional Democrats briefed on waterboarding and other secret CIA practices in the early years of the Bush administration, as well as the existence of taped evidence of such interrogations (later destroyed). In December 2007, Rockefeller opposed a special counsel or commission inquiry into the destruction of the tapes, stating "it is the job of the intelligence committees to do that."

On September 28, 2006, Rockefeller voted with a largely Republican majority to suspend habeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant," barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Rockefeller's vote gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, permitting the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005. Rockefeller's vote authorized the President to establish permissible interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international Geneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion fell short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury. The bill became law on October 17, 2006.

2008 presidential election

On February 29, 2008, he endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States, citing Obama's judgment on the Iraq war and national security issues, and calling him the right candidate to lead America during a time of instability at home and abroad. This endorsement stood in stark contrast to the results of the state primary that was easily won by Hillary Clinton.

On April 7, 2008, in an interview for The Charleston Gazette, Rockefeller criticized John McCain's Vietnam experience:

McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.

The McCain campaign called for an apology from Senator Rockefeller and for Barack Obama, whom Rockefeller endorsed, to denounce the comment. Rockefeller later apologized for the comment and the Obama campaign issued a statement expressing Obama's disagreement with the comment. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina noted that "John didn't drop bombs from 35,000 feet. ... the bombs were not laser guided (in the 1960 and 1970s)".

Cybersecurity

On April 1, 2009, Rockefeller introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 - S.773 before Congress. Citing the vulnerability of the Internet to cyber-attacks, the bill makes provisions to turn the Department of Commerce into a public-private clearing house to share potential threat information with the owners of large private networks. It authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to sequester any information deemed necessary, without regard to any law.

It would also authorizes the president to declare an undefined "cyber-emergency" which would allow them to shut down any and all traffic to what they considers to be a compromised server.

On June 1, 2011, Rockefeller sponsored the fourth West Virginia Homeland Security Summit and Expo. The event ran two days and focused on homeland security with Rockefeller emphasizing cybersecurity.

Health care

In 1997, Rockefeller co-authored the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – a program aimed at giving low-income children health insurance coverage. Annually, CHIP has been successfully covering about 6 million children, who otherwise would have been uninsured. On September 30, 2007, the program expired, requiring Congress to reauthorize the legislation. On August 2, 2007, the vote for reauthorization passed legislation by a strong, bipartisan vote (68–31).

Rockefeller authored successful legislation that required the Department of Veterans Affairs, for the first time, to provide a wide range of extended care services—such as home health care, adult day care, respite care, and hospice care—to veterans who use the VA health care system.

Rockefeller is also a strong supporter of the fight against Alzheimer's and neurological disease. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) was founded in Morgantown in 1999 by Rockefeller and his family to help advance medical and scientific understanding of Alzheimer's and other diseases of the brain. BRNI is the world's only non-profit institute dedicated exclusively to the study of both human memory and diseases of memory. Its primary mission is to accelerate neurological discoveries from the lab, including diagnostic tools and treatments, to the clinic to benefit patients who suffer from neurological and psychiatric diseases. A $30 million state-of-the-art BRNI research facility was opened at West Virginia University in Fall 2008. The approximately 80,000 square feet (7,400 m) three-level building will house 100 scientists by 2012.

On Healthcare Reform, Rockefeller has been a proponent of a public option, fighting with some Democrats on the finance committee, in particular Max Baucus, the chairman of the committee, who contended that there was not enough support for a public option to gather the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. Baucus asked repeatedly for Rockefeller to stop speaking on the issue.

On September 29, 2009, Rockefeller offered an amendment to the Baucus Health Bill in the Senate Finance Committee to add a public option. The amendment was rejected 15 to 8, with five Democrats (Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Tom Carper, Bill Nelson) and all Republicans voting no.

Rockefeller supported President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Electoral history

1966 West Virginia House of Delegates election in Kanawha County
Elect Fourteen
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 36,789 4.63
Republican Cleo S. Jones 32,901 4.14
Republican Walter W. Carey 31,924 4.02
Democratic George K.W. Woo 31,492 3.96
Democratic Ivor F. Boiarsky 30,802 3.88
Republican Lon Clark Kinder 29,992 3.77
Republican Paul Zakaib 29,947 3.77
Republican James Clay Jeter 29,721 3.74
Democratic Si Galperin 29,429 3.70
Republican Leo G. Kopelman 29,266 3.68
Republican Alfred A. Lilly 28,746 3.62
Republican Thomas E. Potter 28,704 3.61
Republican Eric Nelson Sr. 28,333 3.57
Republican Russell L. Davisson 28,331 3.57
Democratic Thomas A. Knight 28,319 3.56
Republican Charles Young 28,043 3.53
Republican James W. Thornhill 27,765 3.49
Republican William Ricks 27,480 3.46
Republican Blanche Horan 27,458 3.46
Democratic Jack L. Pauley 26,434 3.33
Democratic J.F. Bedell Jr. 26,222 3.30
Democratic Kelly L. Castleberry 26,125 3.29
Democratic Jesse S. Barker 26,030 3.28
Democratic Dempsey Gibson 25,888 3.26
Democratic Fred L. Scott 25,616 3.22
Democratic James K. Thomas Jr. 24,967 3.14
Democratic Pat Board Jr. 24,559 3.09
Democratic L.E. Thompson 23,224 2.92
1968 West Virginia Secretary of State election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 433,142 60.92
Republican John S. Callebs 277,877 39.08
1972 West Virginia gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Arch A. Moore Jr. 423,817 54.74
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 350,462 45.26
1976 West Virginia gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 495,661 66.15
Republican Cecil H. Underwood 253,420 33.82
1980 West Virginia gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 401,863 54.15
Republican Arch A. Moore Jr. 337,240 45.44
1984 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 374,233 51.82
Republican John Raese 344,680 47.73
1990 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 276,234 68.32
Republican John C. Yoder 128,071 31.68
1996 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 456,526 76.65
Republican Betty Burks 139,088 23.35
2002 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 275,281 63.11
Republican Jay Wolfe 160,902 36.89
2008 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jay Rockefeller 447,985 63.71
Republican Jay Wolfe 255,074 36.27

Personal life

Since 1967, Rockefeller has been married to Sharon Lee Percy, the chief executive officer of WETA-TV, the leading PBS station in the Washington, D.C., area, which broadcasts such programs as PBS NewsHour and Washington Week. She is a twin daughter of Senator Charles Harting Percy (1919–2011) and Jeanne Valerie Dickerson.

Jay and Sharon have four children:

The Rockefellers reside in Northwest Washington, D.C., and maintain permanent residence in Charleston, West Virginia. They have a ranch in the Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. President Bill Clinton, a friend of Rockefeller's, and the Clinton family vacationed at the ranch in August 1995.

Rockefeller is related to several Republican Party supporters and former officeholders: his paternal grandmother Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich (1874–1948) was a daughter of Rhode Island Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841–1915). John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960) and Abby's youngest son was banker David Rockefeller (1915–2017). David's brother Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973) served as Governor of Arkansas (1967–71). Winthrop and David's brother Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908–1979) served as Governor of New York (1959–73) and as Vice President of the United States (1974–77) under President Gerald Ford. Jay is also a first cousin of Arkansas Lt. Governor Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (1948–2006).

Awards and decorations

See also

References

  1. Jay: A Rockefeller's Journey (Television production). PBS. June 21, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2024. My birth certificate says John Rockefeller... I wrote my grandfather and asked permission to change my name to John D. Rockefeller IV
  2. Only Democrat in a staunchly Republican dynasty – see Harr, John Ensor; Johnson, Peter J. (1988). The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 394. ISBN 0-684-18936-4.
  3. ^ Weiner, Rachel (January 11, 2013). "Jay Rockefeller won't run in 2014". Washington Post. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  4. ^ Neuhaus, Cable; Carlson, Peter (July 4, 1983). "Jay Rockefeller". People. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  5. "ROCKEFELLER TO ACCOMPANY CLINTON TO CHINA". rockefeller.senate.gov. June 19, 1998. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  6. ^ "John Davison Rockefeller, IV". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  7. Rockefeller, Sen. Jay (July 19, 2018). "Jay Rockefeller: WV Toyota plant is a dream realized (Daily Mail WV)". wvgazettemail.com. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  8. R. W. Apple Jr. (April 10, 1992). "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Front-Runner; Like Voters, Superdelegates Have Doubts About Clinton". New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  9. The Clintons and health care reform – see Johnson, Haynes; Broder, David S. (1996). The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 32–34, 50, 227. ISBN 0-316-46969-6.
  10. "Statement of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV on the Senate Floor On the Iraq Resolution". senate.gov. October 10, 2002. Archived from the original on December 3, 2003.
  11. "Transcript: Sens. Roberts, Rockefeller on 'FNS' - FOX News Sunday". FOXNews.com. November 14, 2005. Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  12. Raby, John; Smith, Vicki (January 11, 2013). "Jay Rockefeller Retiring: West Virginia Senator Won't Run Again When Term Ends In 2014". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  13. Palazzo, Anthony (July 13, 2011). "Sen. Jay Rockefeller Seeks U.S. Agency Probes of News Corp. Phone Hacking". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  14. Blackden, Richard (July 17, 2011). "Phone hacking: Rupert Murdoch's US woes develop legs". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  15. Spillius, Alex (July 21, 2011). "Phone hacking: US senators increase pressure on Les Hinton". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  16. "Senators Call for Dow Jones Inquiry". Reuters. July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  17. Parnass, Sarah (March 25, 2013). "Senators Abandon 'Discriminatory' DOMA Before Supreme Court Arguments". abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  18. "WVU announces new school, gallery honoring Jay Rockefeller as his senatorial archives find 'forever home'". WVU Today. West Virginia University. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  19. "Jay Rockefeller". West Virginia & Regional History Center. West Virginia University Libraries. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  20. "John "Jay" Rockefeller IV, former Senator for West Virginia".
  21. "Charles Rockefeller's Opening Speech". asiasociety.org. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  22. "Senator Jay Rockefeller Joins CFR as Distinguished Fellow". cfr.org. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  23. "Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)". Rockefeller.senate.gov. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  24. Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Scott (June 6, 2008). "Bush Overstated Iraq Evidence, Senators Report". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  25. "Senate panel OKs spy measure". Los Angeles Times. October 19, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  26. ^ Singel, Ryan (October 18, 2007). "Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash". Threat Level from Wired.com (blog). wired.com. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  27. "Election 2008". Hosted.ap.org. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  28. "Chairman Rockefeller Statement on the CIA Decision to Destroy Tapes of Early Detainee Interrogations". U.S. Senate website. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  29. Calvin Woodward (December 10, 2007). "White House Stays Quiet on CIA Tapes". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
  30. William Neikirk; Andrew Zajac; Mark Silva (September 29, 2006). "Tribunal bill OKd by Senate". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
  31. Zernike, Kate (September 28, 2006). "Senate Passes Broad New Detainee Rules". New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
  32. Anne Plummer Flaherty (September 28, 2006). "Senate OKs detainee interrogation bill". Associated Press. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
  33. "Jay Defends Endorsement of Sen. Obama" Charleston (WV) Gazette, 2008-04-08. wvgazette.com. (fee required).
  34. "Rockefeller Apologizes for McCain Remark" FoxNews.com (AP) 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  35. "Rockefeller apologizes to McCain over Vietnam service comment". Register-herald.com, Beckley WV. April 8, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  36. After Rockefeller Insult, McCain Camp Claims Obama Won't Shut Down Campaign Smears - America's Election HQ Archived April 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  37. Senator John D. Rockefeller (April 1, 2009). "Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Sec. 14". Library of congress. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  38. Senator John D. Rockefeller (April 1, 2009). "Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Sec. 18". Library of congress. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  39. Homeland Security a Major Focus for Agencies Across W.Va.
  40. "ROCKEFELLER CHILDREN'S HEALTH BILL PASSES SENATE". rockefeller.senate.gov. August 2, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2018 – via archive.org.
  41. "Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute - School of Medicine - West Virginia University". brni.org. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  42. "The Rockefeller Family and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute - WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute". wvumedicine.org. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  43. Dana Milbank (September 30, 2009). "Washington Sketch: Democratic Fratricide Begins". Washington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  44. Pear, Robert; Jackie Calmes (September 29, 2009). "Senators Reject Pair of Public Option Proposals". New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  45. "U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote, H.R. 3950". senate.gov. December 24, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  46. "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  47. Comins, Linda (September 15, 2007). "Rockefellers Welcome Their First Grandson". Wheeling New-Register. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  48. Public Voter Records (Connecticut)
  49. "WEDDINGS; Valerie Rockefeller, James Carnegie". The New York Times. May 14, 2000. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  50. "Valerie Rockefeller, Steven Wayne". The New York Times. September 19, 2004. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  51. Marriott, Robin (January 18, 2013). "Jensen takes re-opened Russia fund to $155m". PERE. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  52. "Valerie Rockefeller Wayne - NYC Junior Ambassadors". www.nyc.gov. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  53. www.design-studio.co.il, Design-Studio. "DC Finance's Global Family Office and High Net Worth Individual Community". www.dc-finance.com (in Hebrew). Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  54. Karen (December 17, 2018). "Valerie Rockefeller and Dawn Fitzpatrick Are Honored at Women's History Institute Dinner". Historic Hudson Valley. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  55. "Justin Rockefeller". Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  56. "Check Out The Rockefeller Mansion in Rock Creek Park". architectofthecapital.org. October 16, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  57. Brozan, Nadine (July 12, 1995). "Chronicle". New York Times. Jackson Hole (Wyo). Retrieved July 13, 2010.

Further reading

  • Jay Rockefeller: Old Money, New Politics, Richard Grimes, Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company, 1984.
  • The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point, Haynes Johnson and David S. Broder, Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1996. (Significant mention)
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Political offices
Preceded byRobert D. Bailey Jr. Secretary of State of West Virginia
1969–1973
Succeeded byEdgar F. Heiskell III
Preceded byArch A. Moore Jr. Governor of West Virginia
1977–1985
Succeeded byArch A. Moore Jr.
Party political offices
Preceded byJoe F. Burdett Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of West Virginia
1968
Succeeded byThomas A. Winner
Preceded byJames Sprouse Democratic nominee for Governor of West Virginia
1972, 1976, 1980
Succeeded byClyde See
Preceded byJennings Randolph Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from West Virginia
(Class 2)

1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008
Succeeded byNatalie Tennant
U.S. Senate
Preceded byJennings Randolph U.S. Senator (Class 2) from West Virginia
1985–2015
Served alongside: Robert Byrd, Carte Goodwin, Joe Manchin
Succeeded byShelley Moore Capito
Preceded byAlan Cranston Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
1993–1995
Succeeded byAlan K. Simpson
Preceded byArlen Specter Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
2001
Succeeded byArlen Specter
Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
2001–2003
Preceded byPat Roberts Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee
2007–2009
Succeeded byDianne Feinstein
Preceded byDaniel Inouye Chairperson of the Senate Commerce Committee
2009–2015
Succeeded byJohn Thune
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Preceded byTom Harkinas Former US Senator Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Senator
Succeeded byJeff Bingamanas Former US Senator
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children of William Goodsell Rockefeller
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children of John Davison Rockefeller III
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children of Winthrop Rockefeller
children of David Rockefeller
children of Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
children of John Davison Rockefeller IV
children of Rodman Clark Rockefeller
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