Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia Senator and Governor Who Championed Children's Health Care, Dies at 89

John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, the former United States senator from West Virginia and a great-grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller Sr., has died at 89. His family announced the death in a statement. The Washington Post reported that he died at his home in Washington. The first reports gave no cause of death.

Rockefeller was born in New York City on June 18, 1937, into one of the richest families in America. He graduated from Harvard University in 1961 with a degree in Japanese and Far Eastern affairs and languages, according to the National Governors Association. In 1964 he moved to West Virginia as a VISTA volunteer in Emmons, a small coal community, and he stayed.

From VISTA volunteer to governor

West Virginia voters elected him to the state House of Delegates in 1966. He then served as secretary of state and as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College before winning the governorship. He served two terms as governor, from 1977 to 1985.

In 1984, still in office as governor, he was elected to the United States Senate, narrowly defeating businessman John Raese in a year when Ronald Reagan carried West Virginia easily in the presidential race. He took his Senate seat on January 15, 1985, and won re-election four times.

Three decades in the Senate

Rockefeller chaired three major committees during his 30 years in the Senate: Veterans' Affairs, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and Commerce, Science and Transportation, which he led from 2009 until his retirement. He became the state's senior senator in 2010, after the death of Robert Byrd.

As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he led the Senate investigation of the prewar intelligence used to justify the Iraq War. Reuters noted that he excoriated President George W. Bush's handling of that war. The Washington Post described him as a Senate voice on health care and security.

A career built on health care

Health care defined his Senate record. On the Finance Committee, he chaired the subcommittee on Medicare and long-term care and became a leading spokesman for wider health coverage. He co-authored the Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, which has provided health coverage to millions of low-income children. A Senate tribute read into the Congressional Record at his retirement said the program covered more than six million children a year who would otherwise be uninsured.

He played a central role in passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and pushed for a public insurance option in the law. He also worked to reform health care for veterans.

Rockefeller announced on January 11, 2013, that he would not seek re-election in 2014. He retired on January 3, 2015, closing nearly 50 years of service to West Virginia that began in the House of Delegates. He married Sharon Percy in 1967. Then Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, marking his retirement announcement, called him "a strong and outspoken voice for working families in West Virginia."