Stop Rockefeller! The Rich Get Richer
Artist
Peg Averill
Datec. 1974
Dimensions20 x 14 3/4 in. (50.8 x 37.5 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8030
DescriptionGovernor Nelson Rockefeller had unsuccessfully run for the presidency in both 1964 and 1968 and clearly still had grand political ambitions. The governor’s name was inextricably linked with the legacy of one of America’s richest industrial, banking, and political families. This poster reminds viewers of his wealth and his connections to corporate entities like Exxon.Red text in the bottom righthand corner references, the uprising and subsequent lethal crackdown by authorities that took place at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, from September 9–13, 1971. For allies of the Attica prisoners, Governor Rockefeller became the chief antagonist and archvillain of the tragedy since he had ordered the raid that had ended peaceful negotiations and resulted in the deaths of many inmates. In the immediate aftermath of the Attica raid, Rockefeller boasted to President Nixon that “They did a fabulous job, it was a beautiful operation.” His successor, Governor Hugh L. Carey, pardoned seven men formerly incarcerated at Attica and commuted the sentences of an additional prisoner in 1976. He did not, however, take any disciplinary action against the 20 state troopers and guards responsible for the raid.
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