Jay Rockefeller
Jay Rockefeller | |
|---|---|
| File:Rockefeller Color 5x7.jpg | |
| Junior Senator, West Virginia | |
| In office January 1985–Present | |
| Preceded by | Jennings Randolph |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent (2009) |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | american |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Sharon Percy |
John Davison Rockefeller IV was born on June 18, 1937 to German-American parents and is generally known as Jay Rockefeller. He has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1985. He was Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985. Rockefeller is a member of the prominent United States Rockefeller family, the great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, and nephew of former Governor of Arkansas Winthrop Rockefeller and former U.S. Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller.
Born in New York City to John D. Rockefeller III and Blanchette Ferry Hooker, Jay Rockefeller graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1954. He graduated from Harvard University in 1961 with a B.A. in Far Eastern Languages and History, after having spent three years studying Japanese at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
After college, Rockefeller worked for the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. where he served as the operations director for their largest overseas program in the Philippines. He continued his public service in 1964–1965 as a VISTA volunteer, during which he moved to Emmons, West Virginia.
He was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1966, and to the office of West Virginia Secretary of State in 1968. He served as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1973 to 1976.
Rockefeller was elected Governor of West Virginia in 1976 and re-elected in 1980. 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.
In 1984, he was elected to the United States Senate. He was re-elected in 1990, 1996 and 2002. He was chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs (1993–1995; January 3 to January 20, 2001, and June 6, 2001–January 3, 2003). He is currently vice-chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
Rockefeller voted against the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Since 1967, Rockefeller has been married to the former Sharon Percy, the daughter of former U.S. Senator Charles Percy of Illinois. Senator and Mrs. Rockefeller have four children: Jamie, Valerie, Charles, and Justin. Jamie's wife Emily is the daughter of NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. The Rockefellers reside in Charleston, West Virginia.
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External links
- Senate homepage
- Peace Corps biography of Jay Rockefeller
- Foreign Correspondent - WeeklyStandard.com 11/16/2005
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