Missionary capitalist: Nelson Rockefeller in Venezuela

This dissertation explores both the sources of U.S. foreign policies, public and private, and the impact of those policies through a case study of Nelson Rockefeller in Venezuela. It details Rockefeller's early career from the late 1930s through the 1950s. Believing that economic development through private initiative provided the best conditions for international peace and prosperity and for maximizing human freedom and dignity, Rockefeller attempted to promote modernization and basic economic development in Latin America generally and Venezuela specifically. His efforts occurred in a political context shaped by the World War II effort and American perceptions of the proper role of private and public interests.; The dissertation examines Rockefeller's non-profit American International Association and the for-profit International Basic Economy Corporation. Rockefeller hoped to provide a model for reformed U.S. capitalist behavior and to encourage the growth of entrepreneurial spirit among Venezuelans. While he preferred private to public capital, he held a pragmatic view of state activity and hoped to encourage a collaborative relationship between the state, capital, organized labor and other groups. However, Rockefeller's close relationship with the democratic leftist Accion Democratica government brought resistance from both the political right and left in Venezuela. His modernization plans faced political, financial, and cultural obstacles. While he helped improve the well-being of some Venezuelans, Rockefeller overestimated the ability of the United States, through public or private endeavors, to promote economic development and political and social change.; Based on his experiences, Rockefeller sought to influence U.S. foreign economic policy through service in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Rockefeller failed to convince either administration that the U.S. should create more formal channels for the coordination of public and private foreign economic policy. Still, he and other American internationalists shared certain beliefs and assumptions about modernization and the role of the United States in the development process. Such beliefs formed the basis for "nation-building" policies that U.S. public officials pursued in the post-World War II era.