John D. Rockefeller III

• Born: March 21, 1906
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: July 10, 1978
• Place of death: Mount Pleasant, New York

American philanthropist

Rockefeller inherited his wealth from his father, and he used it for philanthropy. He founded the Asia Society and the Population Council and provided funds to the Council of Economic and Cultural Affairs and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Sources of wealth: Inheritance; investments; real estate

Bequeathal of wealth: Children; charity

Early Life

John Davison Rockefeller (RAW-keh-fehl-luhr) III was the first of six children born to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. His parents required that he go to the Baptist church and read the Bible. Even when was young, he was taught about the importance of earning and managing money. For example, he was given an allowance of ten cents a week beginning at the age of eight, and he was required to keep a journal and discuss the use of his money with his father. He had to keep track of how much he spent on himself, how much he gave away, and how much he saved. To earn additional money, he would do chores, such as catching mice, helping with cooking and sewing, or, during World War I, growing a victory garden and packaging bandages. Rockefeller went to the Browning School in New York City and then to the Loomis Institute, a preparatory school in Windsor, Connecticut. He graduated from Princeton University in 1929, receiving high honors in economics.

First Ventures

Rockefeller worked as a clerk for the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in the summer of 1928. This was a great position for him, since he was able to observe and talk with many of the world leaders and see how they interacted. After graduating from Princeton, he attended a conference in Japan, at which many of the problems of Asia were discussed. This trip also included stops in a number of other Asian countries and parts of the Soviet Union.

On returning from this trip, he worked for his father in the Standard Oil Building in New York City, helping with the many charitable donations his father made. Rockefeller became a trustee in many organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and the China Medical Board. These activities enabled him to understand how such organizations worked.

In the 1930’s, Rockefeller became interested in the overpopulation problems of Asia. He was especially concerned about birth control, which then was an unpopular topic of discussion. He donated money to several birth control organizations that trained more than thirty thousand nurses and doctors in birth control techniques and issues regarding sexuality and fertility. He also worked through the Rockefeller Foundation to give money to a medical school in Beijing, China.

During World War II, Rockefeller became a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. He worked for four years in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C., and he then helped to plan the United States’ policies for its postwar relations with Japan.

Mature Wealth

After World War II, Rockefeller and his brothers, Nelson A., Laurance, Winthrop, and David, took on a greater role in managing the family business. The brothers got along reasonably well, although there were often major disagreements among them. John, Jr., in 1934 had given his five sons and daughter Abby trust funds with an estimated total value of $640 million, so each sibling had a fair amount of money. In 1954, John, Jr,. set up another trust for his children estimated at around $100 million.

John III had little interest in managing his money, and he hired others to invest it for him. Most of his money was invested in stocks, bonds, and real estate. His major interest was contributing money to charities that worked for the causes in which he was interested. Rockefeller also served as a trustee on many boards of philanthropic organizations, and he established many organizations for which he was the director.

For example, after World War II, Rockefeller thought that Germany needed help to better understand the principles of democracy, and he started programs that aimed to address this concern. He especially wanted to help Japan and other Asian countries solve the problems associated with decreasing food production and increasing population, and to this end he directed major efforts to provide medicine and birth control and to improve the health of people in these nations. In 1951, Rockefeller went to Japan to meet with many of the nation’s leaders. He helped form working groups to organize cultural exchange programs between the United States and Japan. Through his efforts, Americans began to appreciate Japanese culture, art, and industry, including automobile manufacturing.

Rockefeller fought hard in the 1950’s to start birth control programs in Asia. In that decade, he was influential in the National Academy of Sciences’ announcement that birth control measures deserved further study. In 1952, Rockefeller used his own funds to establish the Population Council, which provided fellowships to those studying population control and family planning. In 1959, the council also provided funds for the use of the intrauterine device (IUD), a plastic coil placed in the uterus to avoid pregnancy. The council obtained money from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. government to supply the large demand for IUDs. By the late 1960’s, the council advocated that information about sex education, birth control, and abortion be provided to American teenagers.

Rockefeller organized theCouncil of Economic and Cultural Affairs in 1953 in order to help Asian nations with farming, marketing their products, and banking. Money was available to enable Asian scholars to come to the United States to learn more about these economic activities. Rockefeller also helped to plan and finance the Center for Performing Arts in New York City in 1955.

In 1952, he became the chairman of the board for theRockefeller Foundation, a charitable organization founded by his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. The foundation gave tens of millions of dollars to implement the best proposals regarding health, medicine, agriculture, the arts, social sciences, and international relations. In his position of chairman, as in his other charitable activities, Rockefeller worked in a low-key manner, allowing all board members to express their opinions but ultimately convincing the trustees to support his ideas.

In the late 1960’s, many young people began to rebel against the Vietnam War and the American government. Rockefeller gave a number of speeches about fighting injustice in the United States, and he started a Task Force on Youth to seek solutions to the issues young people were raising. In 1970, he began to involve himself in environmental issues, and he financed a study aimed at cleaning up the Connecticut River.

Legacy

John D. Rockefeller III is known for his philanthropic contributions to causes in the United States and Asia. He provided financial assistance to artistic, scientific, and cultural activities in the United States, promoted improved relations between Asian communities and the United States after World War II, guided the Rockefeller Foundation, and advocated the use of birth control and family planning. He became a leader in advising Asian leaders about American-Asian relations. Rockefeller was a moderate person, who stressed that cooperation was important in solving the many problems with which he was concerned. He was also a leader in helping to enact tax laws that would encourage philanthropy in the United States, and he encouraged others to donate money to causes they believed were significant.

Bibliography

Abels, Jules. The Rockefeller Billions. New York: Macmillan, 1965. Focuses on the money earned by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., in the Standard Oil Company, with some information about John, Jr., and John III. Includes an index.

Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1976. Describes the life of John, Sr., John, Jr., and his sons. Includes photographs and an index.

Dalzell, Robert F., and Lee Baldwin Dalzell. The House the Rockefellers Built. New York: Henry Holt, 2007. Focuses on John, Sr., and John, Jr., with a small amount of information about John III. Includes photographs and an index.

Hair, John E., and Peter J. Johnson. The Rockefeller Conscience. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1991. A detailed account of John III’s philanthropic activities. Includes photographs and an index.

Moscow, Alvin. The Rockefeller Inheritance. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977. Describes the life of John Rockefeller, Jr., and his five sons, including John III, and how they spent their vast inheritances. Includes photographs and an index.