Happy Rockefeller
| Happy Rockefeller | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Margaretta "Happy" Rockefeller in 1973 | |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In office December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Betty Ford |
| Succeeded by | Joan Mondale |
| First Lady of New York State | |
| In office May 4, 1963 – December 18, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Mary Rockefeller |
| Succeeded by | Katherine Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Margaretta Large Fitler June 9, 1926 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. James Slater Murphy (m. 1945–63) Nelson Rockefeller (m. 1963–79) |
| Children | James B. Murphy 2nd Margretta Harrison Murphy Carol Slater Murphy Malinda Fitler Murphy Mark Rockefeller Nelson Rockefeller Jr. |
Margaretta Large Fitler Murphy Rockefeller (born June 9, 1926), known as Happy Rockefeller, is the widow of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908–1979), who was the 41st Vice President of the United States and a Governor of New York. She was the Second Lady of the United States from 1974–1977.
Childhood and family
Margaretta Large Fitler was born at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1926.[1] Her parents were Margaretta Large Harrison and William Wonderly Fitler Jr., an heir to a cordage fortune. (Later her mother would marry again.) The younger Margaretta is known by her nickname, "Happy", given to her for her childhood disposition. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Union general George Gordon Meade, the commander at the Battle of Gettysburg, and his wife Margaretta Sergeant, daughter of John Sergeant.
Marriages
On December 11, 1949 she married James Slater Murphy, a virologist associated with Rockefeller Institute and a close friend of Nelson Rockefeller. They had four children: James B. Murphy 2nd, Margaretta Harrison Murphy, Carol Slater Murphy, and Malinda Fitler Murphy (1960-2005). The youngest daughter married Francis Menotti, the adopted son of composer Gian Carlo Menotti.
Happy and her husband divorced on April 1, 1963, for reasons of what The New York Times called "grievous mental anguish" and her former husband's lawyer classified as "irreconcilable differences.". A month later at the home of Laurance S. Rockefeller in Pocantico Hills, New York, on May 4, 1963, Happy married Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, who had started serving in office in 1958. She had worked as a member of his office staff until her resignation in 1961. He divorced his first wife, Mary Todhunter Clark, on March 16, 1962. Happy and Nelson Rockefeller had two sons together: Nelson Rockefeller Jr. (born 1964) and Mark Rockefeller (born 1967).
Happy Murphy's relationship with Gov. Rockefeller was controversial at the time. As the British journalist Lady Jeanne Campbell wrote in the London Evening 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 plain Mrs. Simpson."[2] More damaging still was the political fallout for Rockefeller. Echoing the party-wide concerns, an official of the Michigan Republican Party told The 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."[3]
While some people may not have liked it, Rockefeller was re-elected as governor, serving until 1973. Unsuccessful in gaining the party's presidential nomination, he was appointed as vice-president by President Gerald Ford after Richard Nixon resigned, serving from 1974-1977.
Philanthropy and political life
Happy Rockefeller served as the chairman of the board for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1971. She was appointed as a public delegate to the United Nations by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.
Health
She is a breast cancer survivor, having undergone a double mastectomy in 1974, two weeks after Betty Ford, then First Lady of the United States, underwent the same surgery.[4]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Happy Rockefeller. |
References
- ↑ The Lewiston Daily Sun - Google News Archive Search
- ↑ Nan C. Robertson, "Nickname 'Happy' Well-Fitted to Cheerful Mrs. Rockefeller", The New York Times, 5 May 1963, p. 72
- ↑ "Many in G.O.P. Say Marriage Will Hurt Rockefeller in 1964", The New York Times, 3 May 1963, p. 17.
- ↑ "Breast Cancer: Fears and Facts", Time magazine, 4 November 1974
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mary Rockefeller |
First Lady of New York 1963–1973 |
Succeeded by Katherine Wilson |
| Preceded by Betty Ford |
Second Lady of the United States 1974–1977 |
Succeeded by Joan Mondale |
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