Nelson Rockefeller

Nelson Rockefeller, identified in the diary as a governor, is remembered through a compact contrast between public news and private anecdote. His death is noted plainly; the surrounding recollections turn to a 54th Street house associated with his death and to Diana Vreeland’s comic portrait of a man whose wealth could make everyone happy.

Identity and Appearance

The diary offers no extended account of Rockefeller’s career or personal history. Instead, he enters the narrative as a public figure whose death is reported and as the subject of other people’s stories. That narrow focus makes the details that do appear—the house on 54th Street and Vreeland’s remarks—carry the weight of his characterization.

Death and the 54th Street House

The diary records that Rockefeller died. In a nearby recollection, David Whitney identifies the house on 54th Street where Rockefeller died as a place he had used for having fun. The house therefore links the fact of his death to an account of his private social life, though the diary gives no further detail about either the circumstances of his death or what took place in the house.

Diana Vreeland’s Anecdote

Diana Vreeland supplies the most vivid characterization in the entry. Recalling Rockefeller, she said, "Of course Nelson was with a girl—he was always with a girl. Nelson wanted everyone to be happy. And why not? He was a Rockefeller—he could make everybody happy." Someone answered, "But what about Happy?" The exchange turns on the gap between Vreeland’s expansive claim about Rockefeller’s generosity and the pointed, unexplained reference to Happy. It presents his wealth as both a means of pleasing others and the premise of a joke, without clarifying the allusion further.