Rockefeller’s Entourage

“Due to the relative shortness of time to be spent in each of the 23 ccuntries, Governor
Rockefeller has developed a technique for massive information gathering which will en-
able him to multiply a one day visit, for example, into the equivalent of 20 or more
days of activity in terms of data and information gathered.”
– Governor Rockefeller’s press release, New York, May 5, 1969.
Well-informed rumors indicate that President Nixon intended Gov. Rockefeller’s trips to
Latin America and his subsequent report (which, as these rumors go, had been prepared well
in advance) to serve as a kickoff for his “private aid” program for Latin America – after
Nixon had virtually declared the Alliance for Progress dead. However, Rockefeller, a
proponent of government aid to developing countries ever since he was a prime mover be-
hind Truman’s Point IV assistance program (and the Alliance for Progress itself), may
have felt his trip could direct the President’s and Congress’ attention towards the need
for increasing rather than cutting publid aid. Whatever the political intentions and
expectations of the trip, Sen. Frank Church (Idaho), head of the Latin America subcom-
mittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, probably articulated the opinion of
many liberal policymakers: “From the outset it should have been foreseen that such a
mission consisting of so little substance and so much fanfare, would be regarded by Lat-
in Americans as a farce.” 1
Unfortunately, there has been minimal, if any, reporting on who Rockefeller and his ad-
visors met with and what they really discussed. A study of the governor’s entourage,
however, reveals the breadth and scope of high level talent that Rockefeller always seems
to be able to mobilize around whatever crisis may be at hand. In effect, Rockefeller is
able to construct his own private State Department with top level advisors and contacts
ready to cover any contingency.
Of the 27 advisors who are accompanying Rockefeller on his Latin American trips, 13 are
old-time associates and cronies. The nucleus of this group dates back to World War II,
when Nelson headed Roosevelt’s Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIA). It includes:
Victor Borella, Rockefeller’s assistant; Harold Gotaas, director of the division of
health and sanitation; Kenneth Holland, chief of the education section; and Monroe Wheeler,
who supervised the OIA’s publications.
Both the governor’s agriculture advisors have been associated with Rockefeller family ag-
ribusiness development projects: AIA and IBEC – both founded by Nelson in the mid-40’s;
and the Agricultural Development Council (ADC), founded by his brother, John D. * Rocke-
feller III, in 1953. Clifton Wharton, Jr. headed the Reports and Analysis section ot
the AIA for five years and is vice-president of the ADC. Emil Mrak sits on the board of
the IBEC Research Institute and is a member of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on
Ocean Resources.
Rockefeller’s entourage is particularly heavy in “cultural” advisors – mainly men who have
helped him assemble and manage one of the largest and most valuable private art collections
in the world – his unique collection of primitive art alone (over 3,000 objects) is valued
at over $20 million. 2
Immediately preceding his trips to Latin America, Governor Rockefeller opened what might
be termed a cultural offensive on the New York art world. Three giant exhibitions of his
collection opened virtually simultaneously (with enough time between each to allow for
maximum press coverage): The Museum of Modern Art featured “Art of Oceania, Africa and
the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art’ the Museum of Primitive Art presented “The
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Collection of Mexican Folk Art;” and the Metropolitan Museum
of Art displayed “20th Century Art from the Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Collection.”-15-
All three museums have been heavily endowed by the Rockefellers. Nelson himself has been
a president, board chairman and trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. He founded the Mu-
seum of Primitive Art in 1954 to house his fast-growing collection of indigenous art
which, along with staff, is currently being “transferred” to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art. Nelson’s brother, David (board chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank) is the current
chairman of the board of trustees of the Metropolitan.
Three of Rockefeller’s cultural advisors were selected from this art complex: Robert Gold-
water is chairman of the Museum of Primitive Art’s administrative committee and has been
a long-time member of Rocky’s “shadow cabinet” on art. 3 Monroe Wheeler was a trustee
and director of the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibitions and publications for over 20 years
(until 1967); and Thomas P.F. Moving is currently director of the Metropolitan.
Rockefeller is known to bring back art treasures from just about every trip abroad. Per-
haps the presence of so many cultural advisors indicates a desire to further plunder the
cultural treasures of Latin America. Even his business advisor, Arthur Watson, could
double as a cultural counselor – he is a trustee of the Metropolitan.
Three of the governor’s business and economic advisors (Butler, Watson and Woods) are
family associates from way back (see biographies below). Woods, along with Cannon and
Beebe, can also influence press coverage through their connections to The New York Times,
Newsweek and the Miami Herald, respectively. And when all else fails, Rockefeller makes
clear his reliance on military might by including the man who organized the military cam-
paign against Che Guevara, General Robert Porter. Porter once summarized his views on
Latin America for a Congressional committee as follows:
The strategic importance of Latin America to the United States stems from the area’s
geographical location, economic potential and its continued friendly political orien-
tation …. The absence of a serious, direct threat to the United States from the South,
except for the Cuban situation, has allowed the United States to devote its primary
emphasis and the bulk of its resources to the immediately threatened areas of Europe
and Asia. 4
1 New York Post, June 12, 1969. 2 The New York Times, May 9, 1969.
3 The New York Times Magazine, March 18, 1969. For another article on Rockefeller’s art
collection, see The New York Times, May 9, 1969.
4 Hearings on the Foreign Assistance Act of 1967, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, p. 536.
The names for the following abbreviated biographies were gathered from several press re-
leases issued by Governor Rockefeller’s office. Not all of these individuals accompanied
Nelson on every trip and it is possible some failed to make any trips. The official bio-
graphies prepared by the governor’s public relations staff were often misleading and of
course de-emphasized their relations with Rockefeller interests. We therefore checked
the standard sources (e.g., Who’s Who in America) to get a fuller picture of their real
interests. For instance, Victor Borella, who is listed in the press release as a “labor”
advisor, has actually made a career of managing the Rockefeller real estate holdings, a
fact the public relations men failed to even mention. We have included in parenthesis
the area designation for each individual as he or she appeared in the official press re-
leases. The numerous associations of each of these individuals offer many targets to
activists on the local level who wish to demonstrate their opposition to Rockefeller’s
trip and the U.S. domination it perpetuates.ABBREVIATIONS, WITH REFERENCES TO PREVIOUS NACLA NEWSLETTERS
AIA – American Internat’l Ass’n for Economic and Social Development (Vol. III, #2).
AIFLD – American Institute for Free Labor Development.
CIR – Center for Inter-American Relations (Vol. I, #7 and Vol. III, #2).
IBEC – International Basic Economy Corporation (Vol. III, #2).
NN – NACLA Newsletter.
OIA – Office of Inter-American Affairs (Vol. III, #2).
SYMBOLS DESIGNATING IMPORTANT ASSOCIATIONS
* = Member, Center for Inter-American Relations.
+ = Member, Council on Foreign Relations.
o = Long-time Rockefeller associate.
George H. Beebe (press). Senior Managing Editor of the Knight newspaper chain’s Miami Herald, the paper
with the most Latin American coverage in the United States (it is also distributed in Latin America).
As a director of the Inter-American Press Association, the U.S.-dominated organization of editors, pub-
lishers and ournalists, Beebe helps maintain U.S. control over the Latin American press. Helped
launch “Operation Amigo,” a program which brings Latin American high school students to the U.S.
0 Victor Borella (labor). A Dartmouth classmate of Nelson’s and a long-time real estate operator for the
Rockefeller brothers; an executive of Rockefeller Center, Inc., the world’s largest real estate devel-
opment, since 1939. Also manages the huge Rockefeller Pocantico estate near Tarrytown, New York as wel
as Radio City Music Hall, Rock-Time, Inc. (Time-Life building) and Rock-Uris, Inc. (properties con-
structed by Percy Uris’ construction company). Served with Rockefeller as Assistant Coordinator of the
OIA during World War II and, with no known labor experience, became Governor Rockefeller’s “labor ad-
visor” in 1959. As a director of the American Arbitration Association, Borella helps corporations man-
ipulate labor disputes in management’s favor.
ic David Bronheim (youth). A thirty-seven-year-old lawyer who is currently executive director of the
Rockefeller’s CIR. The CIR’s president, William Rogers, was also Bronheim’s boss when he served as the
State Department’s Deputy.Coordinator of the Alliance for Progress. Before his seven years with State
(1960-67), Bronheim worked in the legal department of the World Bank (1958-60).
o Dr. Deltev W. Bronk (science and technology). President of Rockefeller University (1953-68) and trus-
tee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Bronk has long served the Rockefeller interests in the scientific
and academic community. He was president of Johns Hopkins University (1949-53) and is currently a
trustee of Bucknell University, Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.
Bronk has served many government organizations including the President’s Science Advisory Committee and
the National Academy of Sciences, of which he was foreign secretary and president.
+ o William A. Butler (economics). As vice president and chief economist of Rockefeller’s Chase Manhattan
Bank, Butler is in a good position to understand the wide-ranging policy concerns of the Rockefeller
empire. Also serves as a member of the advisory committees to the Comptroller General of the U.S.,
the Comptroller of the Currency, the Bureau of the Census and the Rand Corporation.
James M. Cannon (counselor of the mission). Has worked in the political section of Newsweek magazine
since 1956, serving as Chief of Correspondents of the magazine’s 22 foreign and domestic bureaus.
Worked closely with a long-time Rockefeller advisor, Emmet J. Hughes.
Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm (cultural affairs). [No biography available.] Curator of Mexican Archeology at
the American Museum of Natural History.
Dr. Robert Goldwater (cultural affairs). Professor of Fine Arts, Graduate School, New York University.
o Dr. Harold B. Gotaas (public health). Got his start with Nelson in the OIA during World War II, spec-
ializing in health and sanitation. Served on several state and federal agencies and commissions.
Currently Dean of Northwestern’s Technological Institute.
Samuel B. Gould (education). Currently Chancellor of the State University of New York, Gould has been
president of Antioch College (1954-59) and Educational Broadcasting Corporation (1962-64). Member of
the Board of Trustees of Educational Testing Service, whose college board examinations set the national
standards that channel the nation’s youth into the corporate system.
Walter DeSelles Harris, Jr. (urban affairs). Professor of City Planning, Yale University, he has been
consultant to U.S. government programs in India, Turkey, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican
Republic.
Dr. Kenneth Holland (education). Chief of the education section of OIA during World War II, Holland
now serves as president of the Rockefellers’ Institute of International Education (IIE) which helps se-
lect, channel and track all foreign and domestic students entering or leaving the United States (see
NN, Vol. I, #9). Holland also served in the State Department’s educational and cultural affairs di-
vision (1946-50). The IIE received CIA funds and Holland has had several other connections with CIA-
funded organizations, including the AIFLD (as vice president), World University Service (as sponsor),
and the Foundation for Youth and Student Affairs (as director). The latter organization was the main
CIA conduit for the National Student Association.
-16-Thomas P.F. Hoving (cultural affairs). Co-chairman of the Draft Rockefeller for President Committee
(1968) and head of the Nixon-Agnew Committee on the Arts. Hoving is also the director (since 1967) of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art and after serving as New York City’s Commissioner of Parks (1966-67),
he became chairman of the National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting.
Frederick K. Howard (rapporteur for the mission). A graduate of Columbia Law School in 1967, Howard
is already a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank and can look forward to a lifelong
Rockefeller career.
Mrs. Flora Cameron Kampmann (women’s groups). The token woman for the mission, Kampmann was Chief of
Protocol for San Antonio’s Hemisfair (1968) and has been active in Texas’ Republican Party for many
years. She is a director of her father’s construction firm, William Cameron & Co., and a trustee of
Trinity University of San Antonio and Sweet Briar College of Virginia.
Augustine R. Marusi (business). Has spent his life building up the international chemical operations
of Borden Co., Inc., especially in Latin America, and is currently president and director of that cor-
poration. Also a director of the Chemical Bank New York Trust, the Bank of America, and the American
Sugar Co., all corporations with extensive Latin American operations.
Andrew McClellan (labor). A long-time member of the notorious anti-communist Lovestone wing of the
AFL-CIO’s international section which has been close to the Rockefeller interests, McClellan got his
start with Serafino Romualdi during World War II. Romualdi served as an organizer in the OIA and then
did intelligence work in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. McClellan served as
the Inter-American Regional Organization (ORIT) representative in Central America in the 1950’s, smash-
ing the left labor unions in Guatemala after the overthrow of Arbenz and helping Ambassador Thomas Mann
(an old Texas friend) control El Salvador. In 1963, he helped overthrow the government in the Domini-
can Republic by setting up a parallel anti-communist labor confederation to undercut Juan Bosch’s labor
support. In 1964, he went on to help the CIA organize labor unions to overthrow Cheddi Jagan in Brit-
ish Guiana. McClellan is also a director of the AIFLD, a bizarre hybrid of business-government-labor
programs building bread-and-butter unionism in Latin America. (See Serafino Romualdi, Presidents and
Peons, 1968; and George Morris, The CIA and Labor, 1967.)
Dr. Alan Miller (urban affairs). Governor Rockefeller’s commissioner of the New York State Department
of Mental Hygiene and an authority on stresses of urban life.
Emil M. Mrak (agriculture). Currently chancellor of the University of California at Davis and long as-
sociated with several agribusiness operations, including the California Wine Institute (advisory com-
mittee) which serves the California grape growers, the Sugar Research Foundation (advisor), the Nation-
al Bank of Agriculture (Delano, California) and the Nestle and Nutrition Foundations (trustee). Mrak
is also a director of the Rockefeller’s IBEC Research Institute and rounds out his agribusiness research
interests with some directorships of corporations with Latin American operations. They include Univer-
sal Foods (which has a Puerto Rican subsidiary) and Libby, McNeal Libby (with subsidiary operations in
Panama and a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico). Mrak also finds time to sit on the governor’s Ad-
visory Committee on Ocean Resources.
General Robert W. Porter, Jr. (military). Until February 1, 1969, Porter was Commanding General of the
U.S. Southern Command (CINCSOUTH), which includes Central and Southern America (excluding Mexico). He
was in charge of all U.S. military assistance in Latin America, including military aid and the training
of Latin American military personnel. The Command also operates the 8th U.S. Special Forces (based in
the Canal Zone) which has conducted extensive counterinsurgency operations in most Latin American coun-
tries. During the summer of 1967, Porter directed the U.S.-organized campaign against Che Guevara’s
guerrilla operations in Bolivia.
Clark Reynolds (finance). A young economist at Stanford University’s Food Research Institute, Reynolds
has published a number of studies on Mexico and Chile and is presently collaborating with the chief of
economic studies of the Bank of Mexico on a study of financial growth in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina
and Mexico.
W. Kenneth Riland (public health). A close friend and personal physician of Governor Rockefeller for
several years who is currently making frequent trips to Washington to attend President Nixon. Also
chief physician of U.S. Steel Corporation’s New York office.
+ o Arthur K. Watson (business). Board chairman of the IBM World Trade Corp., which has a near-monopoly
on the computer industry throughout she world. President of International Chamber of Commerce and a
director of the Continental Insurance Co., the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the nation’s most in-
fluential) and a fellow of the Yale Oniversity Corporation. His brother, Thomas Watson, Jr., IBM
Board Chairman, is a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and his brother-in-law, John Irwin II (who
married Jane Watson) is legal counsel to the Rockefeller Foundation and was recently sent to Peru by
Nixon to negotiate the International Petroleum Corporation seizure.
Leroy S. Searle (AID). Presently a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard, Searle gained his
experience in the USAID missions in Laos (1960-64) and Vietnam (1964-?).-18-
o Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. (agriculture). Has worked closely with Rockefeller as head of the Reports and
Analysis section of the AIA whose research operations are run in conjunction with IBEC. Also a vice
president of Rockefeller’s Agricultural Development Council, Inc.
Monroe Wheeler (cultural affairs). Started out with Rockefeller-financed Museum of Modern Art in the
1930’s and moved with Rockefeller to the OIA as chairman of Committee on Publications. After World
War II, he returned to the Museum of Modern Art and became director of exhibitions, member of the in-
ternational council, counselor to the trustees and finally, trustee.
+0 George D. Woods (business). A long-time Rockefeller friend and business associate who, after 28 years
with the First Boston Corporation (a Rockefeller-Mellon investment banking house), became the fourth
president of the World Bank (1963-68). He has served as a financial advisor to both the Rockefeller
and Kaiser families and is currently a director of the First Boston Corporation, Kaiser Industries and
The New York Times. He maintains a home in Portugal for vacations.