Newstalgia Reference Room with Nelson Rockefeller on Meet The Press - April 1958 discussing (or dodging) the question of whether or not he will run for Governor of New York in 1958.
February 7, 2012

Nelson-Rockefeller.jpg
Adamantly coy about not being coy.


Since the name Nelson Rockefeller has been brought up lately with regards to the current state of the GOP and the 2012 election, I ran across this Meet The Press interview with Nelson Rockefeller on the subject of his tax proposals to President Eisenhower, but really about whether or not he was planning on running for Governor of New York.

In doing a tap dance routine that would make Gregory Hines proud, Rockefeller skirts and double-skirts around the issue of running for the State House.

As a Moderate-bordering-on-Liberal Republican, his views were more in line with the Democratic Party than his own and he served in various capacities in the Roosevelt, Truman as well as Eisenhower administrations. His particular brand of politics as a Rockefeller Republican came to become the description of anyone in the Republican Party who espoused moderate values, often accompanied with ridicule.

He left a considerable involvement in Public Service in 1956 to concentrate on New York politics and, contrary to his dodging of the question during this Meet The Press installment he ultimately ran, and successfully won four terms as Governor before his brief appearance as vice-President during the Ford years.

Here is that Meet The Press from April 20, 1958 featuring Lawrence Spivak and Company.

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