Leaving them Alone

Peter J. Johnson

During the 1950’s - a time when John D. Rockefeller, III was most actively engaged in institution-building, sand Don McLean was his chief associate working on problems in connection with the Third World - they concentrated their efforts chiefly on two organizations. Those were the Population Council and the Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs. The latter was the parent body of the Agricultural Development Council and the JDR, 3rd Fund.

There was no simplistic or easy route to their objective, and they deliberately accepted a more complex and difficult way of attacking the problem of world poverty and its concomitants. They followed a policy of patience to allow for the painful accumulation of facts, the development of appropriate policies, and a cooperative effort with the Third World in order to produce change. At the most basic level this involved creating organizations able to deal with the issues, and then leaving them alone to do their work. The need for "leaving alone" is not understood by most people, and Don’s acceptance of the principal was one of his most important contributions to John D Rockefeller, 3rd and to the world.

Don’s primary role was to translate JDR, 3rd ideas into reality, and in doing that he worked most closely with the Population Council and the Agricultural Development Council. He carried out an infinite number of housekeeping tasks, such as providing and staffing offices, gaining tax exemptions, and handling visa problems for fellows. But, more importantly he had to secure strong and innovative leadership.

There were initial leadership problems with both organizations.  Fred Osborn, the leading layman in the population field, was aging and also had his own private agenda. J. Lossing Buck in the agricultural field had somewhat similar handicaps. Don was a strong advocate of Frank Notestein’s demographic approach to population; when the time came to replace Osborne at the Population Council, it was natural for him to turn to Notestein.

For the Agricultural Development Council Arthur Mosher was an absolutely inspired choice to become the head, and Don was the one who persuaded the very reluctant Mosher to accept the job. I heard a story of how it happened from both Art and Don. It's well worth the telling, as follows.

Both JDR, 3rd and Don believed that he exclusively biological approach of the Rockefeller Foundation to the problems of world food supply was both useful and necessary, but did not in itself provide a solution to the overall problem. Using the reasoning of William Myers of Cornell and Ted Schultz of Chicago, they argued for a parallel social science effort that would apply the theoretical breakthroughs of the natural scientists to the reality of Third World agriculture and society. They lost that battle within the Rockefeller Foundation and decided to attempt it on their own.

After creation of the Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs (CECA) JDR, 3rd and Don carried out their search for permanent leadership of the Agricultural Development Council. They eventually settled on Art Mosher as the most qualified candidate because of his long experience in agricultural economics in both Asia and South America. 

Don approached Mosher, who was most hesitant about accepting the position. Don was intrigued by his diffidence because, as he said, most people fell all over themselves when given the chance to work with a Rockefeller. Don pushed Art for an explanation, and he finally confessed his reasons. During his study of United States assistance programs in Latin America, he had looked carefully at IBEC/AIA, the combined business and philanthropic organization created and led by Nelson Rockefeller at the end of World War II. According to Mosher, Nelson would come up with a marvelous new idea  for instance something to do with the marketing of agricultural commodities - that he believed would remake the world in six months. Everybody had to stop but they were doing and go to work on the new project. But when the world was not completely done over in six months, Nelson would become discouraged and shift to some newer scheme. Then everyone would have to go work on that one.

Art Mosher said he could not accept interference from on high in the conduct of his work, and that it was essential his sponsors have the patience to wait for fifteen or twenty years, if necessary, before seeing evidence of progress and change. Don saw the wisdom of that philosophy, reported it to JDR 3rd, and persuaded him to accept it. 

Over the next twenty years both JDR, 3rd and Don we're consistently supportive of Mosher and the ADC, never interfering on matters of policy or personnel. Don's critical role in establishing the creative independence of the ADC may have been one of his greatest contributions to the public interest and to the welfare of millions in the Third World.

Peter J Johnson, New York City, worked with Don McLean in the late 70’s in the compilation of the record of John D Rockefeller 3rd.