Happy Rockefeller | |
|---|---|
 Rockefeller in 1973 | |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In role December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
| Vice President | Nelson Rockefeller |
| Preceded by | Betty Ford |
| Succeeded by | Joan Mondale |
| 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 (1926-06-09)June 9, 1926 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | May 19, 2015(2015-05-19) (aged 88) |
| Resting place | Rockefeller Family Cemetery,Sleepy Hollow, New York |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6, includingMark |
Margaretta Large "Happy"Rockefeller (néeFitler, formerlyMurphy; June 9, 1926 – May 19, 2015) was aphilanthropist who, as the wife of the 41stvice president of the United States,Nelson Rockefeller, served assecond lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. She was previously thefirst lady of New York from 1963 to 1973, during her husband's last three terms in office.[1]
In 1991, she was appointed a public delegate to theUnited Nations byUS PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.[2][3] She also was president of the board of theSaratoga Performing Arts Center north ofAlbany, New York,[2][3] among other philanthropic projects.[3]
Margaretta Large Fitler was born inBryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1926.[4][5] Her parents were Margaretta Large Harrison and William Wonderly Fitler Jr., an heir to acordage fortune. Her mother would subsequently remarry. The younger Margaretta was known by hernickname, "Happy", given to her for her childhood disposition. She was a great-granddaughter ofPhiladelphia mayorEdwin Henry Fitler and a great-great-granddaughter of Union generalGeorge Gordon Meade, the commander at theBattle of Gettysburg, and his wife Margaretta Sergeant, daughter of politicianJohn Sergeant.[6]
She graduated from theShipley School inBryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1944.[3]
In the later part ofWorld War II, she was a driver in theWomen's Volunteer Service.[1]
In 1948 she married James Slater Murphy,[1][3] avirologist associated with theRockefeller Institute and a close friend ofNelson Rockefeller's. They had four children: James B. Murphy, II, Margaretta Harrison Murphy, Carol Slater Murphy, and Malinda Fitler Murphy (1960–2005).
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 reasonsThe New York Times called "grievous mental anguish" and which her former husband's lawyer classified as "irreconcilable differences".[citation needed]
She married New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller[3][7] on May 4, 1963, at the home ofLaurance S. Rockefeller inPocantico Hills, New York. Rockefeller was eighteen years her senior and had divorced his first wife,Mary Todhunter Clark, on March 16, 1962. Happy and Nelson Rockefeller went on to have two sons together: Nelson Rockefeller Jr. (born 1964), andMark Rockefeller (born 1967).
There has been speculation surrounding Malinda Fitler Menotti, the youngest daughter of Happy Rockefeller and James Slater Murphy, with many in the Rockefeller inner circle believing her to be Nelson Rockefeller's daughter. In his diary, Rockefeller close friend 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 close friend of Nelson Rockefeller, claimed that Malinda's parentage was an open secret among Rockefeller associates.[8]
Nelson Rockefeller first campaigned for president in 1960, during which time he remained governor of New York, andMary Rockefeller remained first lady of New York.[1] According toThe Independent, Happy was pregnant during the 1964 campaign, and made "a fine candidate's wife on the campaign trail."[1] However, political pundits "blamed the marriage for Nelson Rockefeller's failure to secure the 1964 Republican presidential nomination," as at that time, no divorced candidate had secured the US presidency.[3] As the British journalistLady Jeanne Campbell wrote in the LondonEvening Standard, when the Murphy-Rockefeller involvement became a subject of media scrutiny after the announcement of Rockefeller's filing for divorce from his first wife and Happy Murphy's resignation from his staff, "Already people are comparing Happy Murphy to the Duchess of Windsor when she was plainMrs. Simpson."[9] More damaging still was the political fallout for Rockefeller. Echoing the party-wide concerns, an official of the Michigan Republican Party toldThe New York Times that the couple's potential marriage likely would cost Rockefeller the 1964 presidential nomination. "The rapidity of it all—he gets a divorce, she gets a divorce—and the indication of the break-up of two homes. Our country doesn't like broken homes."[10] Nelson began to drop in the polls and withdrew from the race after losing several primaries, with the election going toLyndon Johnson after Rockefeller was replaced as the Republican front-runner byBarry Goldwater.[1]
In 1968, she accompanied her husband on the campaign trailas he again ran for US president.Women's Wear Daily quotedNorman 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 byOscar de la Renta,Bill Blass,Chanel,Grès,Dior,Valentino andDonald 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, withRichard Nixon taking the White House.[1]
According toRichard Norton Smith, Nelson's biographer, Happy's "quiet advocacy, first with her husband" and then with New York State Senate presidentEarl Brydges helped bring about the1970 repeal of New York's abortion ban.[2]
Her husband was reelected governor of New York two more times after they married.[11] Rockefeller stepped down as governor of New York in December 1973, three years into his fourth term.[1][12]
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,Jerome Urban of Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, and her husband. Both President Ford andHenry Kissinger, thenSecretary of State, phoned the families with best wishes after the announcement. The operation was reported on in detail by publications such asThe New York Times.[13] According toWWD, the combination of Happy Rockefeller and Betty Ford, as well asShirley Temple, coming public about their cancer treatments helped raise awareness of a disease that had been extremely stigmatized.[11]
After theWatergate scandal in 1974,Gerald Ford named Nelson Rockefeller to serve as his vice president.[3] She became theSecond Lady of the United States when her husband became the vice president ofGerald Ford.[11] For the term, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where they entertained in the vice president's mansion, but lived in their own house.[11] Over the years, the couple also maintained residences inSeal Harbor, Maine,Venezuela, andManhattan, where they had an apartment[11] on Fifth Avenue designed byJean-Michel Frank.[14] They also lived at the 3,000-acred family estate inPocantico Hills, New York,[11] namedKykuit.[2]
Her husband died in January 1979, two years after having left the vice presidency.[1] She continued to entertain at812 Fifth Avenue and at the Rockefeller estate, the Japanese House.[2] In 1982, Happy Rockefeller hosted an event at her Fifth Avenue apartment forHenry 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.[15]
In 1985, she lent atapestry ofPicasso's anti-war themedGuernica to theUN, and after a year of cleaning and preservation, it hangs again since 2022 outside the Security Council chambers.[16] In 1991, she was appointed a public delegate to theUnited Nations byUS PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush. She also became president of the board of theSaratoga Performing Arts Center at northAlbany, New York.[2][3] She supported thePhiladelphia Orchestra's annual visits to China and theFranklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in New York City, theCentral Park Conservancy, andHistoric Hudson Valley.[3]
Her residence in Pocantico Hills, Kykuit, was given to theNational Trust for Historic Preservation and in 1994 was opened to the public.[11] Afterward, she moved into the Japanese House estate.[2]
Rockefeller was abreast cancer survivor, having undergone a doublemastectomy in 1974, two weeks afterBetty Ford, thenFirst Lady of the United States, underwent a single mastectomy.[17]
Happy Rockefeller died on May 19, 2015, at the age of 88, following a short illness.[5] She died at her home inTarrytown, New York, in her sleep.[3] She was survived by six children.[7]
As of 1982, Nelson Rockefeller had donated a large part of the couple's painting collection to theMuseum of Modern Art, knowing the estate would be heavily taxed. Their apartment was filled with replicas of many of the donated paintings.[15] 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 byVan Cleef & Arpels.[18] The auction also included items from theirFifth Avenue apartment.[14]
Media related toHappy Rockefeller at Wikimedia Commons| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | First Lady of New York 1963–1973 | Succeeded by Katherine Wilson |
| Vacant Title last held by Betty Ford | Second Lady of the United States 1974–1977 | Succeeded by |
