[Y]

-8-

VIEW HAD BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH OUR FUTURE AND THEREFORE THE HOPES OF MANKIND. ONE OF THE FEW TIMES HE BECAME IMPATIENT WITH ME WAS OVER A DECADE AND A HALF AGO WHEN I HAD JUST SEEN (THE THEN) PRESIDENT (AND REPORTED THAT I HAD TOLD HIM WHAT I THOUGHT WRONG WITH SOME PARTICULAR POLICY. DID I HAVE REMEDY, NELSON WANTED TO KNOW, AND WHEN I SAID NO, OFFER AN ANSWER?, ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT FORGET THAT HE CHID ME: "YOU SHOULD NEVER TELL A PRESIDENT THAT HE HAS PROBLEMS; HE IS TOO OVERWHELMED BY THEM AS IT IS. YOUR DUTY IS TO OFFER SOLUTIONS."

NELSON WOULD BE PROUD THAT TWO PRESIDENTS HAVE HONORED HIM BY ATTENDING THIS SERVICE. HE WOULD BE TOUCHED AT THE ACT OF GRACE OF PRESIDENT CARTER WHO IN THESE DAYS OF BEREAVEMENT FOUND THE TIME AMIDST THE CARES OF HIS DUTIES FOR SEVERAL GESTURES TO EASE THE FAMILY'S PAIN AND THEN TO EXTEND THE ONE SOLACE THAT WOULD HAVE STIRRED NELSON THE MOST: THAT HIS NATION UNDERSTOOD AND APPRECIATED HIS LOVE AND DEVOTION TO IT.

HE WOULD BE GRATEFUL TO PRESIDENT FORD, WHOM HE LOVED FOR GIVING HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE HIS NATION AND WHOM HE SERVED WITH UNSELFISH DEDICATION AS VICE PRESIDENT. HE DEFIED THE CYNICS WHO EXPECTED HIM TO CHAFE AT THE LIMITATIONS OF THE OFFICE, THEN STEPPED ASIDE IN MID-TERM WITHOUT COMPLAINT OR SLACKENING IN HIS DEVOTION TO HIS RESPONSIBILITIES. NELSON'S AMBITION WAS TO SERVE, NOT TO BE.

MUCH HAS BEEN SAID OR WRITTEN ABOUT THE FRUSTRATION NELSON EXPERIENCED BECAUSE HE NEVER ACHIEVED THE PRESIDENCY. THIS MISUNDERSTANDS THE MAN. HIS FAILURE TO REACH THE PRESIDENCY WAS IN MY VIEW A TRAGEDY FOR THE COUNTRY. WHAT A GREAT PRESIDENT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN! HOW HE WOULD HAVE ENNOBLED US! WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY COMBINATION OF STRENGTH AND HUMANITY, DECISIVENESS AND VISION --A NATURAL BORN LEADER! YET I NEVER HEARD HIM EXPRESS EVEN ONE WORD OF DISAPPOINTMENT. AS WITH EVERYTHING, HE SOUGHT THE OFFICE WITH ZEST; BUT WHEN

-10-

IT ELUDED HIM HE WENT ON TO NEW CHALLENGES, UNDAUNTED,
RESILIENT, INEXHAUSTIBLE.

IN A SENSE THERE WAS SOMETHING INEVITABLE AND EVEN
NOBLE IN HIS GALLANT FAILURE TO WIN THE NATION'S HIGHEST
OFFICE. HERE AGAIN THE MYTHS ARE WRONG. HE NEVER SUCCEEDED
NOT DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WAS A ROCKEFELLER BUT BECAUSE
OF IT. HIS ENTIRE UPBRINGING MADE HIM RECOIL BEFORE APPEARING
BEFORE THE PEOPLE HE WANTED TO SERVE AS IF HE WERE PURSUING
A PERSONAL GOAL; HAVING BEEN ALREADY SO PRIVILEGED HE FELT THAT
HE HAD NO RIGHT TO ASK ANYTHING MORE FOR HIMSELF AS AN
INDIVIDUAL. AND SO THIS SUPERB CAMPAIGNER WHO GENUINELY LOVED
PEOPLE ESCHEWED THE PERSONAL PURSUIT OF DELEGATES. HE SOUGHT
THE OFFICE BY TRYING TO ASSEMBLE AND PRESENT TO THE NATION
THE MOST SWEEPING VISION OF ITS FUTURE AND THE BEST BLUEPRINTS
TO ATTAIN IT. HE SPENT DAYS AND WEEKS SEEKING EXPERT ADVICE
FOR SUBSTANTIVE SPEECHES TELLING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT ITS
CHALLENGES AND HOW TO MASTER THEM. HE HAD A TOUCHING FAITH
IN THE POWER OF IDEAS. IT IS NOT QUITE THE WAY OUR BOISTEROUS

[Y]

-11-

PROCESS WORKS, MORE GEARED AS IT IS TO PERSONALITIES THAN
TO PROGRAMS.

AND YET IN THE FINAL ACCOUNTING IT WAS OFTEN NELSON
WHO WORKED OUT THE AGENDA WHICH OTHERS THEN IMPLEMENTED
AS NATIONAL POLICY. THE INTELLECTUAL GROUNDWORK FOR MANY
INNOVATIONS WAS FREQUENTLY HIS. INDEED HE CONTINUALLY CALLED
THE NATION'S LEADERS AND THINKERS TO THEIR RESPONSIBILITY,
TO MAKE THEIR COMMITMENTS AND APPLY THEIR BEST EFFORTS TO THE
FUTURE OF THE NATION. DESTINY WILLED IT THAT HE MADE HIS
ENDURING MARK ON OUR SOCIETY IN A WAY THAT TRANSCENDS
PERSONALITY--ALMOST ANONYMOUSLY IN THE PROGRAMS HE DESIGNED,
THE VALUES HE UPHELD AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHOSE LIVES HE
CHANGED.

NELSON WAS NEVER QUITE SURE THAT HE HAD DONE ENOUGH TO
FULFILL THE MORAL OBLIGATIONS OF HIS INHERITANCE. THIS
ASSEMBLAGE IS THE BEST TESTIMONY TO HOW WELL HE SUCCEEDED.
LEGISLATORS AND DIPLOMATS, THE EMINENT AND THE HUMBLE,

[Y]

-12-

AMERICANS AND FOREIGNERS OF ALL FAITHS AND RACES AND NATIONS
ARE HERE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE SCOPE OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS,
THE REACH OF HIS SPIRIT AND ABOVE ALL TO THE GREATNESS OF
HIS HEART. THIS DISTINGUISHED GATHERING WOULD TELL NELSON
that because of his essential humanity, he was not less
THE ONE THING HIS FRIENDS KNEW BETTER THAN HE: HOW MUCH
HE SUSTAINED THE PUBLIC LIFE AND HONOR OF HIS COUNTRY.

AS I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT MY GALLANT AND BELOVED FRIEND
- like all of you -
I WAS FIRST SEIZED BY AN INEXPRESSIBLE LONELINESS. AND THEN
IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT HIS ROLE IN OUR SOCIETY WAS SYMBOLIC
OF AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD. LIKE HIM WE ARE UNIQUELY
STRONG; LIKE HIM WE ARE IDEALISTIC AND A LITTLE INARTICULATE.

IF HE WERE HERE HE WOULD TELL US: DO NOT LOOK BACK,
that there is full OF EXCITING CHALLENGES
DO NOT BE AFRAID OR ASHAMED OF YOUR STRENGTH; NEITHER HOARD IT
NOR ABUSE IT; IT IS NOT A BURDEN BUT GOD'S BLESSING
CONFERRING AN OPPORTUNITY TO OPPOSE TYRANNY, TO DEFEND THE
FREE, TO LIFT UP THE POOR, TO GIVE HOPE TO THE DISADVANTAGED
AND TO WALK TRULY IN THE PATHS OF JUSTICE AND COMPASSION.

-13-

WHEN NELSON WAS RELAXED HE DID NOT SPEAK ABOUT POWER
BUT ABOUT LOVE. HE MEANT NOT THE SENTIMENTAL, CLINGING,
DEMANDING EMOTION WHICH/OFTEN IS A FORM OF SELFISHNESS;
RATHER IT WAS THE GRACE OF THE INWARDLY STRONG, AN ALL-EMBRACING
FEELING THAT ONLY THOSE WHO ARE TRULY AT PEACE WITH THEMSELVES
CAN DARE TO ARTICULATE.

IN RECENT YEARS HE AND I WOULD OFTEN SIT ON THE VERANDA
OVERLOOKING HIS BELOVED HUDSON RIVER IN THE SETTING SUN. I
WOULD TALK MORE BUT HE UNDERSTOOD BETTER. AND AS THE STATUES
ON THE LAWN GLOWED IN THE DIMMING LIGHT NELSON ROCKEFELLER
WOULD OCCASIONALLY GET THAT SQUINT IN HIS EYES WHICH
BETOKENED A FAR HORIZON. AND HE WOULD SAY, BECAUSE I NEEDED
IT, BUT ABOVE ALL BECAUSE HE DEEPLY FELT IT: "NEVER FORGET
THAT THE MOST PROFOUND FORCE IN THE WORLD IS LOVE."

THAT NELSON ROCKEFELLER IS DEAD IS BOTH SHATTERING--
AND NEARLY INCONCEIVABLE. ONE THOUGHT HIM INDESTRUCTIBLE,
SO OVERPOWERING WAS HE IN HIS ENERGY, WARMTH AND CAPACITY
FOR LOVE. HIS BUOYANT VITALITY, HIS DEEP FAITH IN MAN'S
INHERENT GOODNESS, UPLIFTED ALL THOSE WHOSE LIVES HE TOUCHED.
FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HE HAD BEEN MY FRIEND, MY OLDER BROTHER,
MY INSPIRATION AND MY GUIDE--MATTER-OF-FACTLY, UNOBTRUSIVELY,
INTUITIVELY AT MY SIDE WHEN HE WAS MOST NEEDED, INSTILLING A
SENSE OF CONFIDENCE AND DUTY, OF COMMITMENT TO THE VALUES IN
WHICH HE BELIEVED SO DEEPLY.

I FIRST MET NELSON ROCKEFELLER WHEN AS AN ASSISTANT TO THE
PRESIDENT HE CALLED ME, A GRADUATE STUDENT, TO WASHINGTON
TO JOIN ONE OF THE PANELS OF EXPERTS HE WAS FOREVER SETTING
UP TO PONDER THE NATION'S FUTURE. HE ENTERED THE ROOM SLAPPING
BACKS, CALLING EACH OF US BY THE BEST APPROXIMATION OF OUR
FIRST NAME HE COULD REMEMBER, AT ONCE OUTGOING AND REMOTE.
INTOXICATED BY THE PROXIMITY OF POWER ALL OF US SOUGHT TO
IMPRESS HIM WITH OUR PRACTICAL ACUMEN AND OFFERED TACTICAL

[Y]

-2-

ADVICE ON HOW TO MANIPULATE EVENTS. AFTER WE WERE FINISHED THE SMILE LEFT HIS FACE AND HIS EYES ASSUMED THE HOODED LOOK WHICH SHOWED THAT WE WERE NOW TURNING TO THE THINGS THAT MATTERED. "WHAT I WANT YOU TO TELL ME," HE SAID, "IS NOT HOW TO MANEUVER. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHAT IS RIGHT."

"WHAT IS RIGHT?" FOR NELSON ROCKEFELLER THIS WAS THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUESTION, BOTH NAIVE AND PROFOUND, AT ONCE SHAMING AND UPLIFTING. IT WAS THE DEFINITION OF HIS INTEGRITY.

ALL THAT WAS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. WHEN THE PHONE CALL CAME LAST FRIDAY NIGHT IT SEEMED THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP HAD JUST STARTED. AND NOW IT WAS ALREADY ENDED.

NO ONE WHO DID NOT HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF EXPERIENCING NELSON'S SELFLESS DEPENDABILITY, HIS EMBRACING THOUGHTFULNESS, CAN POSSIBLY APPRECIATE HOW DESOLATE OUR LIFE HAS NOW BECOME. OUR LIVES WITHOUT HIM ARE AN UNCHARTED TERRITORY; A SUDDENLY STARK AND HAZY FUTURE. AND YET WE WOULD NOT TRADE PLACES WITH ANYONE; HIS FRIENDSHIP WILL BE OUR BADGE OF HONOR SO LONG AS WE LIVE.

-3-

HE PERMEATED OUR LIVES. HE WAS ALWAYS STEADFAST. HE TOOK ENORMOUS PRIDE IN THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HIS FRIENDS ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY SERVED THEIR NATION. WHEN HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HE WAS NEARLY ALWAYS AT THE AIRPORT WHEN I RETURNED FROM A FOREIGN MISSION. HE WOULD GIVE ME A BEARHUG--SAYING LITTLE--AND DRIVE OFF. BY THESE GESTURES HE INFUSED STRENGTH AND HOPE AND INSPIRATION. OF HIS FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES HE ASKED NOTHING EXCEPT THAT THEY DO THEIR BEST, KEEP THEIR FAITH, LOVE THEIR FELLOW MAN AND SET THEIR SIGHTS HIGH IN PURSUIT OF HONORABLE GOALS.

NELSON ROCKEFELLER WAS A MAN OF MANY CONTRASTING QUALITIES; EBULLIENT YET WITHDRAWN, GREGARIOUS AND STILL LONELY, JOYFUL AND DRIVEN, FULL OF THE MOMENT YET ALWAYS SOMEHOW MARKED BY DESTINY. HE COULD BE PUGNACIOUS IN ASSERTING HIS BELIEFS BUT HE RESPECTED THOSE WHO DIFFERED WITH HIM; HE COULD BE HARD BUT NEVER PETTY; SINGLEMINDED BUT NEVER MALICIOUS. HIS ENEMIES WERE THE SLIPSHOD AND THE SECOND-RATE.

[Y]

-4-

NELSON ALWAYS HAD A MARVELOUS TIME. NOTHING WAS TOO
TRIVIAL FOR HIS ATTENTION. HE WOULD REARRANGE THE FURNITURE
IN A FRIEND'S LIVING ROOM WITH THE SAME ENTHUSIASM THAT HE
REBUILT ALBANY OR THREW HIMSELF INTO PROJECTS TO STUDY THE
NATION'S FUTURE. HE LOVED CAVIAR AND HOT DOGS. HE LOVED
PARTIES AND TRAVEL AND MEETING PEOPLE. AND HE LOVED ART NOT
ONLY FOR LOVE OF BEAUTY BUT BECAUSE IT EXPANDED THE REACH
OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.

HE WAS A NOBLE MAN WHO GAVE SUCCOR BUT ASKED FOR NO
RECIPROCITY. NONE OF US EVER HEARD HIM COMPLAIN; HE NEVER
SHARED HIS SORROW, ONLY HIS INSPIRATION. HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF
SO BLESSED THAT HE FELT HE HAD NO RIGHT TO BURDEN OTHERS
WITH THE DOUBTS AND WORRIES INSEPARABLE FROM THE HUMAN CONDITION
EVEN IN A MAN SO STRONG AS HIMSELF. IT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY
BURDEN WHICH CUMULATIVELY DRAINED HIM THOUGH HE WOULD NEVER
HAVE ADMITTED IT. HE WAS TRULY HIS BROTHER'S KEEPER.

NELSON COULD NOT EXPRESS IN GLIB WORDS THE WELLSPRINGS

CYJ

-5-

OF HIS MOTIVATIONS. ONE HAD TO KNOW HIM WELL TO UNDERSTAND THE TACTILE MANNER IN WHICH HE COMMUNICATED--THE MEANINGS OF THE NUDGES, WINKS AND MUMBLES BY WHICH HE CONVEYED HIS INFINITE CARING. HE WAS AN ARTIST; SUDDEN UNEXPECTED FLASHES OF INSIGHT STARTLED AND SOMETIMES ASTOUNDED ONE.

I HAVE KNOWN NO PUBLIC FIGURE WHO SO OFTEN REFLECTED ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL. THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN AND THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD WAS NOT A CLICHÉ FOR NELSON; IT WAS A CALL TO ACTION, THE MOTIVE FORCE OF HIS LIFE. HE PRACTICED HIS FAITH BUT HE WAS TOO HUMBLE TO PREACH IT. HE FOUGHT AGAINST INJUSTICE AND FOSTERED EQUALITY BUT HE THOUGHT IT UNSEEEMLY TO ADOPT THE CLAMORING TONE OF PROTEST; HE HELPED THE DOWNTRODDEN BUT HE THOUGHT IT DEMEANING TO PUBLICIZE ACTS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE.

UNTYPICAL AS HE WOULD SEEM TO BE, NELSON WAS QUINTESSENTIALLY AMERICAN. FOR OTHER NATIONS, UTOPIA IS A BLESSED PAST NEVER TO BE RECOVERED; FOR AMERICANS IT IS JUST BEYOND THE HORIZON. ONE HAS TO WORK WITH AMERICANS--NOT LISTEN TO THEM--TO EXPERIENCE THEIR FAITH. ONE HAD TO WORK WITH NELSON

-6-

ROCKEFELLER TO SENSE HIS DAUNTLESS STRENGTH, HIS PRAGMATIC GENIUS, HIS UNQUENCHABLE OPTIMISM. OBSTACLES WERE THERE TO BE OVERCOME; PROBLEMS WERE OPPORTUNITIES. HE COULD NEVER IMAGINE THAT A WRONG COULD NOT BE RIGHTED OR THAT AN ASPIRATION WAS BEYOND REACH. SELF-PITY OR RAGE OR RESENTMENT WERE INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO HIM. THE IMPERFECTIONS OF OUR SOCIETY WERE NOT AN EXCUSE FOR BITTERNESS BUT A CALL TO DUTY.

HE WAS BORN TO LEADERSHIP. EVERY DECADE NELSON HAD ANOTHER PROJECT: TO COMMISSION THE MURALS OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER, TO INSPIRE A MUSEUM OF PRIMITIVE ART, TO GATHER THE NATION'S EXPERTS TO STUDY THE PROBLEMS OF COMING DECADES, TO EXPAND THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM, TO REBUILD THE STATE CAPITAL, TO SURVEY THE PROBLEMS OF LATIN AMERICA, TO DEFINE OUR CRITICAL CHOICES, TO SOLVE THE ENERGY PROBLEM. HIS FAITH IN REASON AND DEMOCRACY AND THE HUMAN PERSONALITY WAS BOUNDLESS. HE NEVER LOOKED BACK. HE OFTEN SEEMED REMOTE BECAUSE HE WAS ALREADY LIVING IN A FUTURE WHICH MOST OF US HAD NOT YET

[Y]

-7-

UNDERSTOOD,

HE LOVED HIS FAMILY. HE LOVED HIS COUNTRY. AND IN HIS MIND THE TWO WERE CONNECTED. IT IS NOT A SIMPLE MATTER TO HAVE GREAT WEALTH AND POWER IN AN EGALITARIAN SOCIETY. BUT HE WAS PROUD OF HIS HERITAGE WHICH HE INTERPRETED AS A SUMMONS TO HONOR AND DUTY. HE DEEPLY BELIEVED THAT HIS MORAL OBLIGATION WAS A PRIVILEGE. SERVICE WAS NOT A FAVOR HE RENDERED TO OTHERS; THEY DID HIM HONOR BY PERMITTING HIM TO HELP.

AND JUST AS HE UNABASHEDLY BELIEVED IT HIS FAMILY'S DUTY TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY, SO HE WAS CONVINCED THAT IT WAS HIS COUNTRY'S DUTY TO VINDICATE ITS VALUES BY REACHING OUT TO THE REST OF MANKIND WITH THE MESSAGE OF HOPE AND FREEDOM.

SKEPTICS MIGHT SCOFF AT HIS BELIEF IN AMERICA'S MORAL MISSION.

BUT THEN CYNICS DO NOT BUILD CATHEDRALS.

HE REVERED HIS PRESIDENTS WHETHER OR NOT HE AGREED WITH THEM. AS A PATRIOT, HE SOUGHT TO EASE THEIR BURDEN; HE WINCED WHEN ASSOCIATES MADE UNWORTHY COMMENTS ABOUT THOSE WHO IN HIS

-8-

VIEW HAD BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH OUR FUTURE AND THEREFORE THE HOPES OF MANKIND. ONE OF THE FEW TIMES HE BECAME IMPATIENT WITH ME WAS OVER A DECADE AND A HALF AGO WHEN I HAD JUST SEEN THE THEN PRESIDENT AND REPORTED THAT I HAD TOLD HIM WHAT I THOUGHT WRONG WITH SOME PARTICULAR POLICY. DID I OFFER AN ANSWER?, NELSON WANTED TO KNOW. AND WHEN I SAID NO, HE CHIDED ME: "YOU SHOULD NEVER TELL A PRESIDENT THAT HE HAS PROBLEMS; HE IS TOO OVERWHELMED BY THEM AS IT IS. YOUR DUTY IS TO OFFER SOLUTIONS."

-9-

MUCH HAS BEEN SAID OR WRITTEN ABOUT THE FRUSTRATION NELSON EXPERIENCED BECAUSE HE NEVER ACHIEVED THE PRESIDENCY. THIS MISUNDERSTANDS THE MAN. HIS FAILURE TO REACH THE PRESIDENCY WAS IN MY VIEW A TRAGEDY FOR THE COUNTRY. WHAT A GREAT PRESIDENT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN! HOW HE WOULD HAVE ENNOBLED US! WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY COMBINATION OF STRENGTH AND HUMANITY, DECISIVENESS AND VISION --A NATURAL BORN LEADER. YET I NEVER HEARD HIM EXPRESS EVEN ONE WORD OF DISAPPOINTMENT. AS WITH EVERYTHING, HE SOUGHT THE OFFICE WITH ZEST; BUT WHEN

[YJ]

-10-

[Y]

-11-

[Y]

-12-

AMERICANS AND FOREIGNERS OF ALL FAITHS AND RACES AND NATIONS
ARE HERE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE SCOPE OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS,
THE REACH OF HIS SPIRIT AND ABOVE ALL TO THE GREATNESS OF
HIS HEART. THIS DISTINGUISHED GATHERING WOULD TELL NELSON
THE ONE THING HIS FRIENDS KNEW BETTER THAN HE: HOW MUCH
HE SUSTAINED THE PUBLIC LIFE AND HONOR OF HIS COUNTRY.

AS I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT MY GALLANT AND BELOVED FRIEND
I WAS FIRST SEIZED BY AN INEXPRESSIBLE LONELINESS. AND THEN
IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT HIS ROLE IN OUR SOCIETY WAS SYMBOLIC
OF AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD. LIKE HIM WE ARE UNIQUELY
STRONG; LIKE HIM WE ARE IDEALISTIC AND A LITTLE INARTICULATE.
BUT IF HE WERE HERE HE WOULD TELL US: DO NOT LOOK BACK,
DO NOT BE AFRAID OR ASHAMED OF YOUR STRENGTH; NEITHER HOARD IT
NOR ABUSE IT; IT IS NOT A BURDEN BUT GOD'S BLESSING
CONFERRING AN OPPORTUNITY TO OPPOSE TYRANNY, TO DEFEND THE
FREE, TO LIFT UP THE POOR, TO GIVE HOPE TO THE DISADVANTAGED
AND TO WALK TRULY IN THE PATHS OF JUSTICE AND COMPASSION.

-13-

WHEN NELSON WAS RELAXED HE DID NOT SPEAK ABOUT POWER
BUT ABOUT LOVE. HE MEANT NOT THE SENTIMENTAL, CLINGING,
DEMANDING EMOTION WHICH OFTEN IS A FORM OF SELFISHNESS;
RATHER IT WAS THE GRACE OF THE INWARDLY STRONG, AN ALL-EMBRACING
FEELING THAT ONLY THOSE WHO ARE TRULY AT PEACE WITH THEMSELVES
CAN DARE TO ARTICULATE.

That Nelson Rockefeller was both shattering --
and nearly inconceivable. Death seems incompatible with
this fearless man--strong and gentle, greagarious and solitary.
One though him indestructible, so overpowering was he
in his energy, warmth and capacity for love. His buoyant
vitality, allied with a deep faith in man's inherent goodness
moved all those whose lives he touched. For twenty-five
years he had been my friend, my older brother, my inspiration
and my guide--matter-of-factly, unobtrusively, intuitively
at my side when he was most needed, instilling a sense of
confidenciality
commitment
duty, of devotion to the values in which he believed so deeply.

The first time I met Nelson Rockefeller was when as an
assistant to the President he called me, a graduate student,
to Washington to join one of the panels of experts he was
forever setting up to ponder the nation's future. He entered
the room slapping backs, calling each of us by the best
approximation he could make of our first name, at once

-3-

infinitely thoughtful that our lives without him are an
unimaginable, uncharted territory; a sudden, stark and
hazy future. And yet we would not trade places with
anyone; his friendship will be our badge of honor so
long as we live.

He permeated our lives. He was always steadfast.
He took enormous pride in the accomplishments of his
friends especially when they served their nation. When he was
Vice President of the United States he was nearly always at the
airport when I returned from a foreign mission. He would give
me a bearhug--saying little--and drive off. By these
gestures he infused strength and hope and inspiration. Of
his friends and associates he asked nothing in return except
that they do their best, keep their faith, love their fellow
man and set their sights high in pursuit of honorable goals.

Nelson Rockefeller was a man of many contrasting qualities;
ebullient yet withdrawn, gregarious and still lonely,
joyful and driven, full of the moment yet always somehow

[y]

-6-

the furniture in a friend's living room with the same enthusiasm that he rebuilt Albany or threw himself into projects to study the nation's future. He loved caviar and hot dogs. He loved parties and travel and meeting people. And he loved art not only for aesthetic reasons but because it expanded the reach of the human spirit.

Untypical as he would seem to be, Nelson was quintessentially American. For other nations, Utopia is a blessed past never to be recovered; for Americans it is just beyond the horizon. One has to work with Americans--not listen to them--to experience their faith. One had to work with Nelson Rockefeller to sense his dauntless strength, his pragmatic genius, his unquenchable optimism. Obstacles were there to be overcome; problems were challenges. He could never imagine that a wrong could not be righted or an aspiration was beyond reach. Self-pity or rage or resentment were incomprehensible to him. The imperfections of our society

-8-

Nelson Rockefeller was such a man. He often seemed
remote because he was already living in the future which
most of us had not yet understood.

He was so American too in his unquenchable optimism.

He loved his family. He loved his country. It is not a simple matter to have great wealth and power in an egalitarian society. But he was proud of his heritage which he interpreted to be one of honor and duty. He deeply believed that this imposed upon him a moral obligation and that his moral obligation was a privilege, it was not a favor he rendered to others; they did him honor by permitting him to serve.

And just as he unabashedly believed that his family's duty to serve their country, so he was convinced that it was his country's duty to vindicate its values by reaching out to the rest of mankind with a message of hope and freedom.

Skeptics might scoff at his belief in America's moral

-9-

mission. But then cynics do not build cathedrals.

He revered his Presidents whether or not he agreed with them. As a patriot, he sought to ease their burden; he winced when associates made unworthy comments about those who in his view had been entrusted with our future and therefore the hopes of mankind. One of the few times he became impatient with me was over a decade and a half ago when I had just seen the President and reported that I had told him what I thought wrong with some particular policy. Did I offer an answer?, Nelson wanted to know. And when I said no, he chided me: "You should never tell me as it is. President his problems; he is too overwhelmed by them. Your duty is to offer solutions."

Nelson would be proud that two Presidents have honored him by attending this service. He would be touched at the act of grace of President Carter who in the days of his family's bereavement found the time amidst history.

duties to ease the pain and extend the one solace that
that those of us who worked with Nelson knew would have
stirred him most: that his nation understood and appreciated
his love and devotion to it.

He would be grateful to President Ford, whom he loved
for giving him the opportunity to serve his nation and whom
he served with unselfish dedication as Vice President
the office, then stepping aside in mid-term without
complaint or slackening in his devotion to his responsibilities.
Nelson's ambition was to serve, not to be.

Much has been said or written about the frustration
Nelson experienced because he never achieved the Presidency.
This point of view shows a lack of understanding of the man.
His failure to reach the Presidency was in my view a
tragedy for the country. What a great President he would
have been! How he would have ennobled us! He was such an

-11-

extraordinary combination of strength and humanity,
decisiveness and vision and a natural born executive.

Yet I never heard him express even one word of disappointment.
As with everything, he sought the office with zest; but when
it eluded him he went on to new challenges, undaunted,
resilient, inexhaustible.

In a sense there was something inevitable and even
noble in his gallant failure to win the nation's highest
office. Here again the myths are wrong. He never succeeded
not despite the fact that he was a Rockefeller but because of
it. His entire upbringing made him recoil before appearing
before the people he meant to serve as if he were pursuing
a personal goal; he felt that having been already so blessed

he had no right to ask for anything more for himself as an individual.
And so this superb campaigner who genuinely loved people
eschewed the personal pursuit of delegates. He sought the
office by trying to assemble and present to the nation

[y]

-13-

Nelson was never quite sure that he had done enough to fulfill the moral obligations of his inheritance.

He wanted to unite, to reconcile, to give hope and purpose. This assemblage is the best testimony to how well he succeeded. Legislators and diplomats, the eminent and the humble, Americans and foreigners of all faiths and races and nations are here to pay tribute to the scope of his achievements, the reach of his spirit and above all to the greatness of his heart. This distinguished assemblage would tell Nelson the one thing his friends knew better than he: how much he sustained the public life and honor of his country.

As I have thought about my gallant and beloved friend I was first seized by an inexpressible loneliness. And then it occurred to me that his role in America is symbolic of America's role in the world. Like him we are uniquely strong; like him we are idealistic and a little inarticulate.

EYJ

-15-

while betokened
of having seen a far horizon. And he would say, because
I needed it, but above all because he deeply felt it:
"Never forget that the most profound force in the world
is love."

[Y]

-9-

For all other nations, Utopia has been a blessed past
never to be recovered; for Americans it is beyond a near
horizon. Every decade Nelson had another project: to
construct a museum of American art, to decorate Rockefeller Center, to build a Museum of Modern Art, to gather the nation's experts to study the problems of coming decades, to rebuild the State capitol, to survey the problems of Latin America, to solve the energy problem; to develop an Agenda for the Nation; to define our Critical Choices. His faith in reason and democracy and the human personality was boundless. He never looked back. He never tolerated it in his friends.

He loved his family. And above all he loved his country. He deeply believed in its moral mission. Skeptics might scoff at his belief in our country's mission which he saw in largely spiritual terms. But then cynics do not build

CYJ

-10-

cathedrals. And he knew that his country was not true to
itself unless it reached out to the world and with a
message of hope and freedom and progress.

He revered his Presidents whether or not he agreed
with them. As a patriot, he sought to ease their burden;
he winced when associates made unworthy comments about
those who in his view had been entrusted with our future
and therefore the hopes of mankind. One of the few times
he became impatient with me was a decade and a half ago
when I had just seen the then President and reported that
I had told him what I thought wrong with some particular
policy. Did I offer an answer?, Nelson wanted to know. And
when I said no, he chided me: "You should never tell the
President his problems; he is too overwhelmed by them. Your
duty is to offer solutions." Many years later I asked his
advice about whether to accept a position with another
President, whom Nelson had fought all his political life at,

[Y]

-16-

occasionally get that distant squint in his eyes
of having seen a far horizon, and he would say, because I
needed it, but above all because he deeply felt it:
"Never forget that the most profound force in the world
is love."

-15-

God's blessing confirmed
it is not a burden but an opportunity to defend the free,
Tyranny to lift up the poor, to succor the disadvantaged and to
trace truly in
walk in the paths of justice and compassion.

He would want to see a confident and united America,
not paralyzed by doubt but proud that it was blessed by
God; finding in its ideals a source not of guilt but of
determination.

When Nelson was relaxed he did not speak about power
and its uses but about love. He meant not the sentimental,
clinging, demanding emotion which demands reciprocity;
rather it was the grace of the inwardly strong, an all-
embracing feeling that only those who are truly at peace with
themselves can dare to articulate. He and I—in those
past years—would often sit on the veranda overlooking his
beloved Hudson River in the setting sun. I would talk more
but he understood better. And as the statues on the lawn
glowed in the dimming light Nelson Rockefeller would