BUFFALO, W.Va. — As a U.S. Senator, Jay Rockefeller was once in the public eye every day.
By Wednesday, when Rockefeller helped celebrate 20 years of Toyota’s investment at its plant in West Virginia, a public appearance was a rarity.
Rockefeller retired from the Senate at the end of 2014 after five terms. In November, 2014, he participated in the naming of the John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics at West Virginia University. That event also designated WVU Libraries as the home of the John D. Rockefeller IV Senatorial Archives.
But besides that, Rockefeller, 79, has kept much of his post-Senate life private.
So when he appeared Wednesday at the celebration for Toyota in Putnam County, there were lots of requests for handshakes and hugs from dignitaries, Toyota workers and community members.
Rockefeller looked a bit different than people are used to seeing him. In the past, they would have looked up at their 6-foot-6 senator.
In this case, Rockefeller was in a wheelchair. He said he fell in a slick spot on a rainy day and damaged tendons above his knee.
“My problem is I can’t get a round very much at all,” he said. “I’m pretty much stuck in this wheelchair. Everything else is fine, but I have some tendons above the kneecap that didn’t want to cooperate. So I just can’t travel very much.”
The homecoming had a worldwide feel to it. Rockefeller was reuniting with longtime friend and economic ally Dr. Shoirchiro Toyoda, honorary chairman of Toyoda Motor Corp.
Rockefeller said it had been a decade since they’d seen each other. They sat side-by-side during the ceremony.
“We just had not just the ceremony, but we had lunch with Doctor Toyoda and his wife and some of the senior people. We really went back talking about the history of our country and Japan. It was a very close bond between some of us.”
LIVE on #Periscope: Millie Marshall, President of @Toyota in #PutnamWV https://t.co/GgwcJkRttN
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) September 21, 2016
During his remarks at the ceremony, Rockefeller described being inspired by Japanese culture while he was an adolescent.
“I went to Japan when I was only 17 years old to a university there, where I studied Japanese for three years. And I came to understand, because this was in the late 50s, Japan was still recovering from the Second World War.
“People were really struggling, really struggling hard. So they could only make it in the Japanese manner, which is hard work and discipline and keeping a watch over everybody else.”
As West Virginia’s governor and then as senator, he made a focus of bringing Japanese development to his adopted state.
“I was very moved by that, so the whole concept of Japanese plants in West Virginia — particularly Toyota was very strong in my mind and my heart,” he said.
“I’m not sure at the beginning they thought West Virginia was the right place to go, but we persisted for about 10, 12 years. Lots of trips to Japan and trips of their people over here, and finally they made the decision.”
Rockefeller was among the dignitaries who appeared 20 years ago at Toyota’s groundbreaking in Buffalo. At that point, leaders were celebrating a $400 million engine plant that would employ 300 people.
Since its inception, Toyota West Virginia has had eight expansions to its engine and transmission lines. The facility is valued at $1.4 billion and now employs 1,600 people.
At that groundbreaking ceremony in 1996, Rockefeller expressed hope the plant would grow.
“I think it will grow. One can hope for that. But that’s the future,” Rockefeller said back then. “This is a takeoff point. They’re very good neighbors.”
Since 1986, according to the state Development Office, Japanese development has been a key part of West Virginia’s economic development strategy.
Total Japanese development has been $2.05 billion. Total related jobs have risen to 3,423.
Of those, Toyota West Virginia is the largest in terms of jobs.
MORE See chart of Japanese investment in West Virginia
Rockefeller was among the last visitors to leave Wednesday’s Toyota celebration, and he received applause from the workers as he departed. He said he would be traveling back to Washington, D.C., where he’s still a political observer.
He said he would be watching Monday’s first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, for example. But he didn’t want to say much about his thoughts on the matter.
“I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton, but I don’t want to talk about politics. This is our 20th anniversary of Toyota — 1,500 people working.”