American businessman and politician Nelson Rockefeller was born on this day, July 8, in 1908 (d. 1979). His Sitting record, dated Mar 30, 1944, states his role as “Office Co-ordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Commerce Dept. Washington, D.C.”

Rockefeller served as the 41st vice president of the United States under Gerald Ford, from December 1974 to January 1977; he was previously the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He also served as assistant secretary of State for American Republic Affairs for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (1944–1945) as well as under secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A grandson of billionaire John D. Rockefeller and a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.