The Rockefeller Family
Regarded as one of the richest and powerful families in the world, the Rockefellers would make the fortune that would bankroll the political aspirations of future family members during the late 19th and early 20th century, primarily through their early domination and subsequent monopolization of the petroleum industry with their company Standard Oil, founded by brothers John D. and William Rockefeller.
Although William would go on to establish the National City Bank of New York (which would become Citigroup), it was his elder brother John D. Rockefeller that would end up with the title of ‘the wealthiest American of all time’.
Unlike our previous patriarchs, John D. had no political aspirations for either himself or his only son (his other four children were girls) John D. Jr. but preferred to use his power, influence and wealth behind the scenes.
Despite John D. Jr. not being considered a political power player but more of a financier and philanthropist, his marriage to Abigail Aldrich, the daughter of the powerful Rhode Island senator and leader of the Republican Party in the Senate, Nelson W. Aldrich, was seen by many as exactly that, a power play and the perfect marriage of capitalism and politics.
It would be the third branch of the Rockefeller family tree that would finally enter stage left in the theater of American politics, John D. Jr and Abby’s second son, Nelson Rockefeller. Nelson would catch the political bug when he worked with the Creole Petroleum Corporation, a Venezuelan subsidiary of the family business.
This lead to a deep love of Latin America and would spur him on to approach then president Franklin D. Roosevelt with his concerns over the Nazi’s increasing influence in Latin America. In 1940, Roosevelt would create the position of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) so that Nelson could improve U.S. Latin American relations.
