Margaretta Large “Happy” Rockefeller (1926–2015,) née Fitler, formerly Murphy, was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the second wife Nelson Rockefeller, the grandson of industrialist John D Rockefeller, the 49th governor of New York, and 41st vice president of the United States.
Born to a wealthy family in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Margaretta earned the nickname “Happy” for her sunny disposition during childhood. After high school, she served as a wartime driver for the Women’s Volunteer Service in Philadelphia and, at age 20, married virologist Dr. James Slater Murphy.
Happy, as Mrs. Murphy, became a volunteer in Nelson Rockefeller’s first campaign for governor. They had an affair, and they got married after both divorced their spouses. He was in the second of his four terms as governor and a leading contender for the presidency. When marital infidelity and divorce were less acceptable for presidential candidates, their marriage raised a political storm and probably cost him the Republican party’s presidential nomination in 1964, during his second term as governor of New York state.
Rockefeller continued to serve as governor until he became vice president under President Gerald R. Ford, who ascended to the presidency following the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
After her husband’s death, Rockefeller oversaw her family’s philanthropies and maintained a busy schedule as a socialist and a patron of the arts and culture.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Happy Rockefeller
Once you have been confronted with a life-and-death situation, trivia no longer matters. Your perspective grows and you live at a deeper level. There’s no time for pettiness.
—Happy Rockefeller
Topics: Death, Dying
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