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Rockefeller yielded little ground in his defense of his gifts to associates in government. Under pressure from the committee, he finally agreed that if he is confirmed, he will make no substantial gifts or loans to any federal employee —unless there is an exceptional medical need. But he insisted that this sort of personal philanthropy was a matter of family tradition. Appearing to be personally wounded by the criticism, he lamented the fact that "sharing with others has become a political issue. Not one of the gifts or loans I have made was designed to corrupt." He resorted to one of the homely analogies he likes to use: "You're sitting there eating apples, and nobody else has an apple to eat. I'm sure there isn't a person under those circumstances who wouldn't say, 'Well, doesn't everybody want an apple?' "
What perplexed the Senators was the number of apples that Rocky gave away. In a bemused tone of voice, Alabama Democrat James B. Allen observed that all of Rockefeller's appointees seemed to have had two qualities in common: "a state of impecuniousness and a desire not always to remain in that state." Replied Rocky: "That's a common trait of almost all Americans, and that's one reason this country has done so well." Could it be, Allen persisted, that Rockefeller was considered a "soft touch" by his employees? Rockefeller shot back: "I don't think I've been a sucker."
Aside from personal friendship and sympathy, Rockefeller said that he made his gifts to attract and keep good men in public service. Government, he feels, does not pay enough. "The Government is saving money on salaries and losing hundreds of millions with inadequate administrators." Thus he had made loans and gifts totaling $176,389 to Edward J. Logue to persuade him to head the New York State Urban Development Corp. He had given $50,000 to Henry Kissinger to enable him to go to work as President Nixon's foreign policy adviser. Rocky explained that Kissinger had just made a costly divorce settlement when Nixon offered him the White House post. Kissinger was reluctant to take it, partly for financial reasons. But Rocky overcame his objections by giving him the money to set up a trust fund for his two children.
Hasty Decision. The Senators could not understand why Rockefeller did so much more for William J. Ronan than for anybody else. Ronan, who serves as an adviser to the Rockefeller family at $100,000 a year, received $625,000 in gifts and canceled loans from Nelson over a period of 16 years.
Ronan held, moreover, public posts that put him in charge of supervising transportation in the state. But Rocky insisted that Ronan was answerable to him, gifts or not. In fact, he had placed Ronan on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to undertake a Rockefeller policy of aiding mass transit. Warming to the subject, Rocky declared: "Ronan had the guts, the balls," to fight for mass transit. Then he apologized for his language. Said Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr.: "You've topped J.P. Morgan for color."*