- 263 represent the people, all the people, and use his best judgement on those issues and not be influenced by personal considerations of his own, monetary considerations, or anything else of a personal character, but represent those whom he has sworn to represent to the best of his ability. "24/ 24/ State of New York. Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Fiftythird Governor of the State of New York, 1964, page 612. It is worth noting that Mr. Rockefeller's 15 years as Governor were marked by few scandals (see, The Nation, December 31, 1973, page 709). In 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States held (in Engle v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421) that State-sanctioned devotional exercises violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, a decision reiterated in 1963 (in Abington School Board v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203). These rulings, calling into question the practice of opening the day with prayer in public schools, have been the occasion for continuing controversy regarding the place of religion in American life and centering in a popular movement to amend the Constitution so as to provide for some form of school prayer. The Court's decision in Engle v. Vitale was announced on June 25, 1962 (reversing the New York Court of Appeals), and was followed by a wave of criticism and numerous proposals for constitutional amendment. ... Governor Nelson Rockefeller, on July 3, 1962, issued a statement regarding this matter, specifically in response to proposals that the Governors of the States should take common action favoring reversal of the Court's ruling by constitutional amendment. Governor Rockefeller urged "the fullest study of the decision in terms of the fundamental precept of freedom of religion which was the basis of the constitutional provision upon which the Supreme Court based its opinion." He further stated that, in the absence of "the fullest possible study and discussion" of any proposal for constitutional amendment, "I shall abstain from the endorsement of any hasty action by the GoverHe acknowledged that the Court's decision "regarding State-sponsored prayers in public schools raises important questions" for the communication to young people of "the moral precepts which have guided our forefathers and ourselves." 1/ nors.... " Apart from this statement, the Governor did not take any active part in the School Prayer Amendment controversy. However, in 1964, he did state his position in greater detail, supporting a constitutional amendment that would provide for prayer in public schools under certain conditions. Numerous bills had been introduced in the 88th Congress in both Houses calling for constitutional amendment so as to permit prayer in public schools. Among them the best-known was the so-called Becker Amendment, H. J. Res. 693, hearings on which were held from April to June of 1964. During the New Hampshire presidential primary in March of that year the Constitutional Prayer Foundation (located in Baltimore, Maryland) solicited the views of the presidential candidates regarding this issue. Governor Rockefeller's response was made public by the Foundation in Baltimore on April 21, 1964. 2/ 1/ State of New York. Public Papers of Nelson A. Rockefeller Fifty-Third Governor of the State of New York, 1962. p. 981. 2/ New York Times, April 22, 1964. - 265 Three principles were defined by Governor Rockefeller as requisite criteria for his support of a constitutional amendment permitting school prayer: (A) participation by the student on a voluntary basis; (B) the non-denominational nature of the prayer; (C) the right of each school board to make its own determination as to the use of a prayer which conforms to principles (A) and (B). These principles have been widely accepted in one form or another by many school prayer amendment proponents. On July 8, 1971, Governor Rockefeller signed into law a controversial bill allowing silent meditation in public schools at the opening of the day, a measure supported by many as desirable in itself and by others as a way of meeting (or, for some, circumventing) the Supreme Court's prayer rulings. The bill authorized local school boards, if they wished, to allow teachers to "conduct a brief period of silent meditation with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled." Originally the bill had spoken of "silent prayer, a phrase deleted when objections were raised regarding the Court's ban on prayer in public schools. 3/ Governor Rockefeller, writing in a book to be published in October of 1974 (Politics and Religion Can Mix by Dr. Claude Frazier) by Broadman Press in Nashville has stated that "religious principles must provide an unanswering moral base for our leadership or the leadership will fail. "4/ His views regarding the appropriate place of prayer in public life are reflected in his belief that "our nation has been built upon the basic concept of human dignity and the worth of every individual. This concept is based upon our Judeo-Christian tradition of the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God." 5/ At the same time he has emphasized freedom of religion -- "the freedom of every person to worship or not worship as his conscience dictates" to be "fundamental to our society and a keystone of our liberties." 5/ He has participated in the interfaith Prayer Breakfast movement, 6/ and in 1967 (in response to presidential proclamation) he proclaimed a Day of Prayer for Peace and Reconciliation. 7/ 3/ Ibid., July 9, 1971, p. 47. - 4/ Washington Star-News, September 7, 1974, p. A-17. 5/ Public Papers, op. cit., p. 981. 6/ See for example, Public Papers, 1963, p. 606. 7/ Ibid., 1967. pp. 641-642. 40-185 O-74-84 Nelson Rockefeller has an extensive record of participation in government reorganization at both the Federal and State levels. Throughout the years he has been in favor of a strong executive, vis-a-vis the legislature, both on a theoretical level and as a practitioner. His principal major statement on the Presidency as an institution was made during hearings in 1960 before the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery of the Senate Government Operations Committee. 1/ Rockefeller's appearance before the Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery, generally referred to as the Jackson Subcommittee after its chairman, Senator Henry Jackson of Washington, should be viewed in terms of the witness's background and the debate then underway over the "best" way to organize the White House Office. From 1953 through 1958 Rockefeller was chairman of the President's Advisory Committee on Government Organization. During these years 14 reorganization plans presented by the President were adopted by the Congress. In 1958 Mr. Rockefeller was appointed by Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy as a consultant to the Committee on the Organization of the Department of Defense. As chairman of the special studies project of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Governor Rockefeller was closely associated with the project's report on our foreign policy and military programs. Throughout this period, and through the first years of his governorship, Rockefeller was very interested in formal government structure. He appeared to believe that proper formal organizational structure would overcome much of human failings in administration. In his later years as governor, however, he came to view reorganizations not so much as incremental changes towards the final rational organization, but rather as simply a method to change key personnel and signal new policy emphases. 2 The proposals he offered to the Jackson Subcommittee in 1960, therefore, were made during the period when he was most interested in formal organizational structure and may or may not reflect his present opinion on the subject. Proposals: The problem with the management of the Executive Branch could be laid, in the main, to two causes: (1) too many agencies reporting directly to the President and (2) too many interdepartmental and interagency committees. 1/ U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Subcommittee on National Policy Machinery. Organizating for National Security: the Executive Office and Public Support. Hearings, pt. VII, 86th Cong., 2d sess. June 28, and July 1, 1960. pp. 941-973. 2/ See, Robert H. Connery, "Nelson Rockefeller as Governor," in Governing New York State: The Rockefeller Years, ed: Robert H. Connery, Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, vol. 31 (May 1974), p. 8. - 267 As early as 1955, former President Herbert Hoover recognized this sweeping need by suggesting the creation of two appointed Vice Presidents with specific responsibilities respectively for foreign and domestic affairs. This problem was given active and detailed study by the President's Advisory Committee on Government Organization while I was chairman of that committee. I welcome this opportunity to make the following recommendations in these two important fields: b. Consolidation, in certain areas, at the depart- First Secretary The position of First Secretary would derive its delegated authority from the President and enjoy a status above that of the Cabinet. The First Secretary would be empowered to act in the name of the President in international matters at the prime ministerial level, with the Secretary of State operating on the level of the ministers of foreign affairs. He would also serve as Executive Chairman of the National Security Council. In his testimony defending the proposal for a First Secretary, Rockefeller generally discounted the possible conflict which could develop between the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense and the First Secretary. The Chairman of the Subcommittee made the following observation: |