Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed that, “as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived.” Richard Norton Smith has written a scholarly and balanced biography of Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) that portrays the former New York governor as a quintessential man of his times, both in action and passion. Since Al Smith, no governor has left a larger or more controversial footprint on New York.
The book draws on an impressive array of sources to tell the story of Rockefeller’s formative years, business career, stints in Washington policy-making roles, art-collecting, philanthropy, political career, family life, friendships, personal habits, and shortcomings. What emerges is a rich portrait of a man who, William F. Buckley stated, “drank deeply of life from a full cup.”
