Winthrop Rockefeller (1 May 1912-22 February 1973) was Governor of Arkansas (R) from 10 January 1967 to 12 January 1971, succeeding Orval Faubus and preceding Dale Bumpers.
Biography[]
Winthrop Rockefeller was born in New York City, New York on 1 May 1912, the son of John D. Rockefeller's youngest son, John "Junior" Rockefeller, and the brother of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. He was ejected from Yale University in 1934 for bad behavior, and Rockefeller would serve in the US Army during World War II, rising to the rank of colonel after fighting at Okinawa in 1945. In 1953, Rockefeller moved to Arkansas and became the owner of a farming business, and he became a philanthropist in the state. In 1961, he became a member of the Republican National Committee, and he raised funds for Republican Party gubernatorial candidates until he decided to run against Governor Orval Faubus in 1966. Rockefeller, like many other members of his family, sided with the moderate-to-liberal faction of the Republicans, and he made enemies with the conservative faction of the state's Republican Party. Rockefeller was elected Governor in 1967 on a progressive platform, and he enacted prison reform, gave more funding to education, shut down illegal gambling business, and raised taxes, and he quietly and successfully completed Arkansas' integration. In 1970, he lost the gubernatorial election, and he pardoned all prisoners on Death Row before leaving office. He died in Palm Springs, California in 1973 at the age of 60.