Jay Rockefeller's uncle Nelson was a vice president. His uncle Winthrop was a senator, as was his great-grandfather Nelson. But the great American electoral dynasty abruptly ended Friday when Rockefeller said he will not seek re-election in 2014 after nearly three decades in the Senate.

Rockefeller wasn't ever going to be just some Democratic senator from West Virginia. He was always the oil titan John D. Rockefeller's great-grandson, too — and one of the heirs to a legendary fortune.

"He's proud of being a Rockefeller. He talks about his uncles and his grandfather, about that legacy. It's an important part of who he is and how he thinks about himself," said Rockefeller's longtime political adviser, Geoff Garin. "He found a way to be a Rockefeller that was about serving people."