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Winthrop Paul Rockefeller | |
|---|---|
 Rockefeller in 1992 | |
| 17thLieutenant Governor of Arkansas | |
| In office November 19, 1996 – July 16, 2006 | |
| Governor | Mike Huckabee |
| Preceded by | Mike Huckabee |
| Succeeded by | Bill Halter (2007) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-09-17)September 17, 1948 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 16, 2006(2006-07-16) (aged 57) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 8 |
| Parent(s) | Winthrop Rockefeller Jievutė "Bobo" Paulekiūtė |
| Relatives | SeeRockefeller family |
| Education | American College of Switzerland Pembroke College, Oxford Texas Christian University |
| Profession |
|
Winthrop Paul "Win" Rockefeller (September 17, 1948 – July 16, 2006) was an AmericanRepublican politician and businessman who served as the 17thlieutenant governor of Arkansas from 1996 until his death in 2006. He was a member of theRockefeller family.
Rockefeller was born inNew York City,New York, the only child ofArkansas GovernorWinthrop Rockefeller and actressJievute "Bobo" Paulekiute. His parents separated in 1950 and divorced four years later. His maternal grandparents wereLithuanian.[1]
Rockefeller grew up in both the United States and inEurope and was educated at schools in New York,England, and inSwitzerland. He attended theAmerican College of Switzerland, andPembroke College, Oxford for one year, before graduating with a Certificate from the Ranch Management program atTexas Christian University inFort Worth,Texas in 1974.[2][3]
Rockefeller served from 1981 to 1995 on the Arkansas State Police Commission. In 1991, he was appointed by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush to serve on the President's Council on Rural America and became chairman of the council. He was a president of theQuapaw Area Council of theBoy Scouts of America and served on the board of directors of the national Scouting organization. Rockefeller's first foray into elective politics came when he won a narrow victory over Arkansas State Senator Charlie Cole Chaffin, the first woman elected to serve in theArkansas State Senate and the 1994 nominee for Lieutenant Governor.
The November 1996 special election was necessitated by the resignation of GovernorJim Guy Tucker and the elevation of Lieutenant GovernorMike Huckabee to the Governorship. Rockefeller was subsequently re-elected in 1998 to a full four-year term with 67 percent of the vote, over physician Dr. Kurt Dilday. This margin far greater than the vote received by his father in the 1966 and 1968 gubernatorial elections. Rockefeller was elected once again in 2002 with 60 percent of the vote, over Arkansas State Supreme Court Justice Ron Sheffield, the first Black man nominated for statewide office as a Democrat. Money was important to the race.[4]
As Lieutenant Governor, Rockefeller was an avid proponent of the state’s economic interests, and he often traveled at his own expense to seek out potential foreign investors, while at the same time donating his own governmental salary to charity.[5] As Acting Governor on September 11, 2001, the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, he resisted calls to declare a state of emergency and instead urged Arkansans to remain calm and to donate blood. He sponsored Project ChildSafe, a national firearms safety program that has distributed hundreds of thousands of free trigger locks in Arkansas. He was honorary chairman of the Arkansas Literary Festival. In 1997, Rockefeller created Books in the Attic, a program using existing resources, Boy Scouts, and volunteers to ensure access to reading opportunities for all children. In 2004, he served as the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party.[6]
On March 22, 1971, Rockefeller married Deborah Cluett Sage of New York, the eldest daughter of Louis Davidson Sage and the former Constance Cluett Ward. The couple met while both were studying inOxford, England. The wedding took place at theBruton Parish Church atColonial Williamsburg inVirginia.
The couple had three children:
The couple divorced on January 11, 1979.
On June 4, 1983, Rockefeller married Lisenne Dudderar, an administrative assistant with the ArkansasNature Conservancy. They had four sons:
They adopted a daughter, Grace, inHong Kong.[citation needed] Win and Lisenne founded a school for children with learning disabilities in Little Rock, now known as the Academy atRiverdale.[citation needed]
Rockefeller served as chief executive of Winrock Farms, Inc., which had been set up by his father, and had interests in various small businesses around the state: in retailing, automobiles, farming, and the resort industry. He was an active member of theNational Federation of Independent Business. Rockefeller was ranked # 283 on theForbes magazine list of the nation's wealthiest people in 2005, with a fortune the magazine estimated at $1.2 billion. As lieutenant governor, which was a part-time job, he forwarded his $34,673 state salary to charity.[14]
Rockefeller had announced his candidacy for governor and was expected to faceAsa Hutchinson in the Republican primary election in May 2006. On July 20, 2005, however, he bowed out of the race due to hismyeloproliferative disease, a blood disorder that can develop intoleukemia if left untreated. In October 2005 and March 2006, Rockefeller underwent unsuccessfulbone marrow transplants at theFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center inSeattle,Washington. On July 8, 2006, after the failure of his second bone marrow transplant, he returned to Little Rock, where he died eight days later at theUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. On July 19, his body lay in state in the rotunda of theArkansas State Capitol, and the next day, a memorial service was held atPulaski HeightsUnited Methodist Church, of which Rockefeller was a member.
The following November, then-Attorney GeneralMike Beebe, theDemocrat who won the race forGovernor of Arkansas by defeating Hutchinson, gave tribute to the late Rockefeller saying, "Had he lived, we all know I would not have been here but rather we would have been congratulating a good friend and a great Arkansan as the next Governor, Win Paul Rockefeller."[15]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forLieutenant Governor of Arkansas 1996, 1998, 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas November 19, 1996 – July 16, 2006 | Succeeded by |
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