REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: THE ROCKEFELLERS AND THE DECLINE OF BUSINESS SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION

Business leaders backed Prohibition until it became the law of the land, then John D. Rockefeller Sr., John D. Rockefrlle, Jr., and others reversed themselves and called for repeal. The Rockefellers supported the Anti-Saloon League and the Eighteenth Amendment, but Rockefeller, Jr., recanted his support for Prohibition in a well-publicized letter in June 1932. The family’s initial position and eventual reversal can be traced to religious roots, personal and professional advisers, and concerns for law and order and labor relations.