John Davison (Jay) Rockefeller IV
Compilation by D. A. Sharpe
John Davison (Jay) Rockefeller IV is
the fifth great grandnephew of Johann Philip Rockefeller and Catherina Sharp
Rockefeller, my third great grand uncle and aunt.
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 won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1972, but was
defeated in the general election by the Republican incumbent
Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr.. Rockefeller then served as president
of West Virginia Wesleyan
College from
1973 to 1975.
"John Davison Rockefeller IV,
generally known as Jay Rockefeller, has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator
from West Virginia since 1985. He
was Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985. As a great grandson of oil tycoon
John D. Rockefeller, he is the only current politician of the prominent
six-generation Rockefeller family (served 1985 - 2015) and the only Democrat in
what has been traditionally a staunchly, albeit generally progressive,
Republican dynasty. He won an
impressive six consecutive 6-year terms in the United States Senate,
representing West Virginia.
"He is related to several
prominent Republican supporters and former officeholders: He is a
great-grandson of Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, a nephew of banker
David Rockefeller and Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller and of former U.S.
Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, son-in-law of former Senator Charles H.
Percy of Illinois, cousin of Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Winthrop Paul
Rockefeller and former brother-in-law of Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota.
"Born in New York City to John
D. Rockefeller III and Blanchette Ferry Hooker, Jay
Rockefeller graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in1954. 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., under John F. Kennedy, where he
developed a friendship with Robert Kennedy, and worked as an assistant to Peace
Corps Director Sargent Shriver. He
served as the operations director for the CorpÕs largest overseas program in
the Philippines. He continued
his public service in 1964?1965 as a VISTA volunteer, under President Lyndon B.
Johnson, during which he moved to Emmons, West Virginia.
"Rockefeller, along with his
son Charles, is a trustee of New York's Asia Society, established by his father
in 1956; he is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He voted
against the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, which was heavily backed
by his uncle, David Rockefeller.
"Since 1967, Rockefeller has
been married to the former Sharon Percy, the chief executive officer of WETA,
the leading PBS station in the Washington, D.C., area, which broadcasts such
notable programs as The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Washington Week.
"Sharon is the daughter of
former U.S. Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois, who had an association with
the Rockefeller family. They have four children: John D. Rockefeller V
("Jamie"), Valerie, Charles, and Justin. Jamie's wife Emily is the
daughter of former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
"The Rockefellers reside in
Charleston, West Virginia. They also, like other members of the family, have a
ranch in the Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Bill Clinton (a friend of
Rockefeller's) and his family spent their summer vacation in August,1995, at
the ranch."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller_IV
Dwight Albert (D.
A.) Sharpe
805 Derting Road East
Aurora, TX 76078-3712
817-504-6508