Happy Rockefeller
Happy Rockefeller | |
---|---|
First Lady of New York | |
In role May 4, 1963 – December 18, 1973 | |
Governor | Nelson Rockefeller |
Preceded by | Mary Rockefeller |
Succeeded by | Katherine Wilson |
Personal details | |
Born | Margaretta Large Fitler June 9, 1926 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | May 19, 2015 Pocantico Hills, New York, U.S. | (aged 88)
Resting place | Rockefeller Family Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | |
Children | 6, including Mark Rockefeller |
Margaretta Large "Happy" Rockefeller (née Fitler, formerly Murphy; June 9, 1926 – May 19, 2015) was a
In 1991, she was appointed a public delegate to the
Family and education
Margaretta Large Fitler was born at
She graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1944.[3]
Marriages and career
First marriage and volunteering
In the later part of
In 1948 she married James Slater Murphy,
In 1958, Happy signed up to serve as a volunteer on Nelson Rockefeller's gubernatorial campaign. The following year she became the newly elected governor's private secretary,[1] then resigned from his office staff in 1961. Happy and her husband divorced on April 1, 1963, for reasons The New York Times called "grievous mental anguish" and her former husband's lawyer classified as "irreconcilable differences".[citation needed]
Second marriage and 1964 presidential campaign
She married New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller
There has been speculation surrounding Malinda Fitler Menotti, the youngest daughter of Happy Rockefeller and Dr. James Slater Murphy, with many in the Rockefeller inner circle believing her to be Nelson Rockefeller's daughter. In his diary, Rockefeller intimate Ken Riland used a tone of knowing irony when mentioning Malinda, putting the word stepfather in quotes. Ellen, the wife of Wallace Harrison, the architect and Nelson Rockefeller confidant, claimed that Malinda's parentage was an open secret among Rockefeller associates.[8]
Nelson Rockefeller first campaigned for president in 1964, during which time he remained governor of New York, and Happy remained first lady of New York.
1968 US presidential campaign
In 1968, she accompanied her husband on the campaign trail as he again ran for US president. Women's Wear Daily quoted Norman Norell, whose clothes she wore on the campaign trail, as stating "she has that good family, Ivy League look. She will always look right — never gussied up, never silly. She is not interested in excitement for excitement's sake." She also wore designs by Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Chanel, Grès, Dior, Valentino and Donald Brooks.[11] WWD also noted that she was "known for relaxed charm" and frankness, with the latter to such a point that his 1968 campaign had an internal rule that she was not to be quoted directly.[11] Rockefeller lost the campaign, with Richard Nixon taking the White House.[1]
According to Richard Norton Smith, Nelson's biographer, Happy's "quiet advocacy, first with her husband" and then with New York State Senate president Earl Brydges helped bring about the 1970 repeal of New York's abortion ban.[2]
First Lady of New York
Her husband was reelected governor of New York two more times after that.[11] Rockefeller stepped down as governor of New York in 1973, after serving three terms.[1]
After discovering tumors in a self-inspection, she underwent surgery on October 17, 1974, in an operation that was described in a news conference by her doctor,
Second Lady of the United States
After the
Her husband died in January 1979, two years after having left the vice presidency.[1] She continued to entertain at 812 Fifth Avenue, as well as the Rockefeller estate the Japanese House.[2] In 1982, Happy Rockefeller hosted an event at her Fifth Avenue apartment for Henry Kissinger, celebrating the publication of the second volume of his memoirs. At the time, Happy said she and Kissinger had been friends since around 1962.[14]
In 1985, she loaned a
Her residence in Pocantico Hills, Kykuit, was given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and in 1994 was opened to the public.[11] She afterwards moved into the Japanese House estate.[2]
Health and death
Rockefeller was a breast cancer survivor, having undergone a double mastectomy in 1974, two weeks after Betty Ford, then First Lady of the United States, underwent a single mastectomy.[16]
Happy Rockefeller died on May 19, 2015, at the age of 88, following a short illness.[5] She died at her home in Tarrytown, New York in her sleep.[3] She was survived by six children.[7]
Art collection
As of 1982, Nelson Rockefeller had donated a large part of the couple's painting collection to the Museum of Modern Art, knowing the estate would be heavily taxed. Their apartment was filled with replicas of many of the donated paintings.[14] However, while much of their collection of items was donated to museums, Happy held on to pieces such as art objects and jewelry.[2] In 2018, a large collection of Happy and Nelson Rockefeller's belongings was auctioned at Sotheby’s in three sales of around 450 items, with total proceeds expected to exceed $6.1 million. The sale included a selection of Happy's jewelry including a custom collection by Van Cleef & Arpels.[17] The auction also included items from their Fifth Avenue apartment.[13]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Happy Rockefeller: Divorcee whose marriage to Nelson Rockefeller ended his ambition of becoming United States President", The Independent, May 21, 2015, archived from the original on May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ^ a b c d e f g h Anthony, Calnek (December 19, 2018). "The Quiet Strength of Happy Rockefeller". Sotheby's Magazine. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Boston Globe and Associated Press, archived from the originalon May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ^ "Happy Rockefeller Seen Being Happier at Seal Harbor Refuge". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Associated Press. September 6, 1971. p. 7. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ a b McFadden, Robert D. (May 19, 2015). "Happy Rockefeller, Whose Marriage to Governor Scandalized Voters, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ Weaber, Gerald (November 2009). "Fascinating Fitlers among the movers and shakers since Riverton's early days" (PDF). Gaslight News. XXXIX (4). Historical Society of Riverton: 5. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Patch.com 21, 2015, archivedfrom the original on May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ISBN 978-0812996876.
- ^ Robertson, Nan C. (May 5, 1963). "Nickname 'Happy' Well-Fitted to Cheerful Mrs. Rockefeller". The New York Times. p. 72.
- ^ "Many in G.O.P. Say Marriage Will Hurt Rockefeller in 1964". The New York Times. May 3, 1963. p. 17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Koski, Lorna (May 20, 2015), "Happy Rockefeller's Style Remembered as 'Always Right'", WWD, archived from the original on May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ^ Andelman, David A. (October 18, 1974), "Wife of Rockefeller Has Breast-Cancer Operation", The New York Times, p. 85, archived from the original on May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ^ a b Olson, Carly (September 24, 2018), "Sotheby's Nelson and Happy Rockefeller Collection Displays a Designer-Client Relationship of Unparalleled Intensity", Architectural Digest, archived from the original on March 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
- ^ a b Radcliffe, Donnie (March 25, 1982). "The Kissinger Crowd". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ Gladstone, Rick (February 5, 2022). "'Guernica' Antiwar Tapestry Is Rehung at U.N." The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ "Breast Cancer: Fears and Facts". Time. November 4, 1974.
- ^ Schultz, Abby (September 26, 2018), "Sotheby's Offers Nelson and Happy Rockefeller's Collection", Barron's, archived from the original on May 24, 2023, retrieved May 22, 2023
External links
- Media related to Happy Rockefeller at Wikimedia Commons