An Addition to a Famous Family
Winthrop Rockefeller served as Arkansas's seventeenth lieutenant governor from 1996-2006. Following in the footsteps of numerous Rockefellers before him, his philanthropy and political activities left a lasting impression on the state of Arkansas.
Winthrop “Win” Paul Rockefeller, born September 17, 1948, in New York City, was Arkansas’s seventeenth lieutenant governor (1996-2006), among his many accomplishments. His papers are housed with UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture, The Winthrop Paul Rockefeller Papers, 1888-2006, UALR.MS.0255.
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller inherited enormous wealth from his family. The origins of Rockefeller’s wealth came from his great-grandfather John D. Rockefeller, Sr., (1839-1937), an American industrialist, philanthropist, and founder of the Standard Oil Company, the University of Chicago, and the Rockefeller Foundation. John Rockefeller’s wife, Laura Celestia “Cettie” Spelman Rockefeller (1839-1915), was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, and school teacher.
Rockefeller’s grandparents were John D. Rockefeller, Jr., (1874-1960), an American financier and philanthropist, and Abigail “Abby” Greene Aldrich Rockefeller, an American philanthropist and socialite.
Rockefeller was the only child of Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1971), governor of Arkansas (1967-1971), and Jievute Paulekiute “Bobo” Sears Rockefeller, also known as Barbara (1916-2008), an American actress.
The Early Years
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller was born in New York City but spent his early years on a farm in Indiana that belonged to his mother's parents, where he reportedly learned Lithuanian before English. Much of his early education occurred overseas in boarding schools in Switzerland, France, and Great Britain.
As a young man, Rockefeller considered becoming a state trooper as he had always admired the organization. However, Winthrop Paul’s uncle, Nelson Rockefeller, took him aside and told him that he had a larger path to pursue. Consequently, he took over the leadership of Winrock Farms, the Arkansas ranch established by his father in the early 1950s, after his father’s death from pancreatic cancer in February 1973. In 1974, he earned a degree in ranch management from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He became the first of “the Cousins,” as the third generation of Rockefellers is called, to come into his inheritance. During this time, he assumed his father’s dedication in the Republican Party of Arkansas. He also became involved with banking, retailing, automobile dealerships, and resorts.
Billfish and Boy Scouts
Rockefeller had many interests and affiliations prior to and during his terms as lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
He was appointed to the Youth Services Master Plan group in 1972 and chaired the Arkansas Juvenile Justice Advisory Group from 1976 to 1984. In 1981, Rockefeller was appointed to the Arkansas State Police Commission, where he served until 1995. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed Rockefeller a member of the President's Council on Rural America, where he was elected chairman by the other members.
Arguably Rockefeller's major interests were the Boy Scouts of America and the International Billfish Conservation Foundation.
He served on the Boy Scouts of America’s executive board of the national council. Later, he became president of the Quapaw Area Council in 1997 and served as a vice president for several years thereafter. Also in 1997, Rockefeller created Books in the Attic, in which Boy Scouts collected used books to distribute to families.
Rockefeller promoted the creation of the International Billfish Conservation Foundation in 1986, when he realized that high-tech fishing boats were catching fewer fish. The Foundation’s mission is to preserve billfish, including swordfish and marlin, for future generations via research, education, and advocacy. The Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2016.
Lieutenant Governor Campaigns, 1996, 1998, 2002
Rockefeller's first venture into elected politics came when he won a narrow victory over Charlie Cole Chaffin for lieutenant governor in the November 1996 special election, which was necessitated by the resignation of Governor Jim Guy Tucker, Jr., and the installation of Lieutenant Governor Mike Huckabee to the governorship.
As lieutenant governor, Rockefeller followed his father's promotion of Arkansas's economic interests, traveling at his own expense to seek potential foreign investors and at the same time donating his own governmental salary to charity.
In 1998, voters overwhelmingly elected him to a full four-year term, giving him sixty-seven percent of the vote against Kurt Dilday. Four years later in 2002, he was again reelected with sixty percent of the vote against Ron Sheffield.
Office of Lieutenant Governor: Duties Mixed with Fun
Rockefeller accomplished much during his time as lieutenant governor of Arkansas from 1996 to the time of his death on 2006.
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller came from a family that promoted philanthropy and duty. He upheld his famous grandmother's (Abigail "Abby" Rockefeller) favorite Bible verse, which is one on a plaque on Winrock Farms: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8.
Rockefeller faithfully performed his duties as lieutenant governor by introducing gun-safety procedures such as Project Homesafe (Rockefeller was a hunter and a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA)) and reassuring Arkansas's people after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center towers. But he also shared his love of a good time with his fellow Arkansans and guests as evidenced by his joyful grin captured in photographs during festive events.
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller died July 16, 2006, from a rare blood disorder at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He is buried at Winrock Farms, Petit Jean Mountain, Conway County, Arkansas.