Former West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller Dies at 89

In brief

• Former West Virginia senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV died at 89 at his Washington home.
• He served as governor and then as a Democratic senator from West Virginia for three decades.
• The family has not disclosed the cause of death.

Death at home in Washington

John D. He was 89 and was born June 18, 1937 (John D. Rockefeller IV, former West Virginia governor and US senator, dies at 89 – san.com). The family has not said what caused his death (Экс-сенатор и представитель династии. В Вашингтоне умер Джей Рокфеллер – NV).

A career in state and federal office

Rockefeller, a great-grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, moved to West Virginia in 1964 to work as a volunteer in an anti-poverty program (Jay Rockefeller, former West Virginia governor and U.S. senator, dies at 89 – cbsnews.com). He won the governorship in 1976 and was re-elected in 1980. He served two terms as governor before moving to the Senate (Умер правнук нефтяного магната Джон Рокфеллер IV в возрасте 89 лет – business-gazeta.ru).

He was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and took office in 1985 (В США скончался бывший сенатор Джон Д. Рокфеллер IV – 4esnok.by). He won five terms and retired in January 2015, making him the longest-serving senator in state history (В США умер Рокфеллер – osnmedia.ru) (Jay Rockefeller, Former U.S. Senator From Famous Oil Family, Dies – huffpost.com). During his Senate years he chaired committees on commerce, science and transportation, veterans' affairs and intelligence.

Work on intelligence and Iraq

Rockefeller was involved in a bipartisan review of intelligence used by the George W. Bush administration before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2008 the Senate Intelligence Committee, which he led, issued a report that accused the administration of distorting intelligence, according to a Russian business outlet. He also worked on health care, support for low-income families, protections for coal miners and veterans, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Reactions

Russian outlets described him as a relative of the Rockefeller oil dynasty; those reports come from propaganda media and are not confirmed by U.S. outlets on the cause or circumstances of death.