Nelson Rockefeller - National Politics

National Politics

Rockefeller sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968. His bid in 1960 was ended early when then-Vice President Richard Nixon surged ahead in the polls. After quitting the campaign, Rockefeller backed Nixon, and concentrated his efforts on introducing more moderate planks into Nixon's platform.

Rockefeller, favored by moderate and liberal Republicans, was considered the front-runner for the 1964 campaign against conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who led the right wing of the Republican Party. In 1963, a year after Rockefeller's divorce from his first wife, he married Margaretta "Happy" Murphy, a divorcee with four children. This turned many in the party off, especially women. The divorce hurt Rockefeller's standing among voters and was widely condemned by politicians, including U.S. Senator Prescott S. Bush of Connecticut (father and grandfather of future Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush), who spoke out condemning Rockefeller for his infidelity, divorce, and remarriage. Rockefeller finished third in the New Hampshire primary in March, behind write-in Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (from neighboring Massachusetts) and Goldwater. He then endured poor showings in several primaries, before winning an upset in the Oregon primary in May. The birth of Rockefeller's child during the California campaign put the divorce and remarriage issue back in the headlines. After a furious contest, Rockefeller narrowly lost the California primary in early June and dropped out of the race. However, at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco in July, Rockefeller was given five minutes to speak before the convention in defense of five amendments to the party platform put forth by the moderate wing of the Republican Party to counter the Goldwater plank. Right wing delegates booed and heckled Rockefeller for 16 minutes while he stood firmly at the podium insisting on his right to speak. Rockefeller refused to support Goldwater in the general election. This conflict between Rockefeller and Goldwater would have lasting effects as Goldwater would subsequently vote against Rockefeller's confirmation for the Vice Presidency in 1974 and then as a key player in blocking Rockefeller from being on the 1976 presidential ticket.

Rockefeller again sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. His opponents were Nixon and Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California. In the contest, Rockefeller again represented the liberals in the GOP, Reagan representing the conservative Goldwater element, and Nixon representing moderates and liberals also. Rather than formally announce his candidacy and enter the state primaries, Rockefeller spent the first half of 1968 alternating between hints that he would run, and pronouncements that he would not be a candidate. Shortly before the Republican convention, Rockefeller finally let it be known that he was available to be the nominee, and he sought to round up uncommitted delegates and woo reluctant Nixon delegates to his banner, armed with public opinion polls that showed him doing better among voters than either Nixon or Reagan against Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Nixon easily defeated both Reagan and Rockefeller, however.

After Gerald Ford's elevation to the Presidency, Rockefeller was named Vice President, and he was initially mentioned and reportedly considered running for President for a fourth time in 1976, if Ford declined to seek his own term.