Nelson Rockefeller - Governor of New York, 1959–1973

Governor of New York, 1959–1973

Rockefeller left federal service in 1956 to concentrate on New York state and national politics. From September 1956 to April 1958 he chaired the Temporary State Commission on the Constitutional Convention. That was followed by his chairmanship of the Special Legislative Committee on the Revision and Simplification of the Constitution. These two appointments served to educate him on the workings of New York state government and to make him visible in state political circles. In 1958, he was elected governor by over 600,000 votes, defeating the incumbent, multi-millionaire W. Averell Harriman, even though 1958 was a banner year for Democrats elsewhere in the nation. Rockefeller was ultimately elected to four, four-year terms as governor of New York State. Re-elected in 1962, 1966 and 1970, Rockefeller vastly increased the state's role in education, environmental protection, transportation, housing, welfare, medical aid, civil rights, and the arts. He resigned three years into his fourth term to work at the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans.

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