Rockefeller Jay Horo...

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Rockefeller Jay Biography

American noted family and politician, a Democrat, he served in the US Senate from West Virginia beginning in 1985. The son of John D. Rockefeller III and Blanchette Ferry Hooker, Jay grew up in a privileged home. He is a 1954 graduate of the private school Phillips Exeter Academy in 1954. He spent three years studying Japanese in Tokyo and, ion 1961, he earned his bachelors degree from Harvard University with a major in Far Eastern Languages and History. After college, Rockefeller joined the Peace Corps and VISTA. Completing his volunteer work, he moved to West Virginia and was elected to the state congress in 1966, moving on to be West Virginias Secretary of State two years later. He made an unsuccessful bid for the Governors office in 1972 and turned to education. From 1973-76, he was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College. Re-entering politics, he ran successfully for Governor in 1976 and again in 1980. In 1984, he was elected to the US Senate. He has served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation since 2009. Rockefeller married Sharon Percy in 1967 and the couple has four children. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less