Peter G. Peterson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of theCouncil on Foreign Relations | |
| In office September 1, 1985 – June 30, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | David Rockefeller |
| Succeeded by | Carla Hills Robert Rubin |
| 20thUnited States Secretary of Commerce | |
| In office February 29, 1972 – February 1, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Maurice Stans |
| Succeeded by | Frederick B. Dent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Peter Petropoulos[1] (1926-06-05)June 5, 1926 |
| Died | March 20, 2018(2018-03-20) (aged 91) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5, includingHolly |
| Education | Northwestern University (BA) University of Chicago (MBA) |
Peter George Peterson (June 5, 1926 – March 20, 2018) was an American investment banker who served asUnited States Secretary of Commerce from 1972 to 1973 during the administration of PresidentRichard Nixon.[1][2][3] Peterson was also chairman and CEO ofBell & Howell from 1963 to 1971.[4] From 1973 to 1984, he was chairman and CEO ofLehman Brothers.[4] In 1985, he co-founded theprivate equity firmthe Blackstone Group, and served as chairman.[5] In the same year, Peterson became chairman of theCouncil on Foreign Relations, a position he held until his retirement in 2007, after which he was named chairman emeritus.[4] In 2008, Peterson was ranked 149th on the "Forbes 400 Richest Americans" with a net worth of $2.8 billion.[4][5] He was also known as founder and principal funder ofthe Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which is dedicated to promotingfiscal austerity.[6]
Peterson was born on June 5, 1926, inKearney, Nebraska. He was the eldest of three children[1] born to Venetia "Venet" Paul[7] (née Pavlou) and George Peterson (né Petropoulos). His parents were immigrants from southernGreece.[2][8] He had one younger sister, Elaine, who died ofcroup when she was one year old,[2] and a brother, John, who was the youngest.[3] His father arrived in the United States at age 17, worked as a dishwasher forUnion Pacific Railroad and roomed in acaboose.[2] In 1923, George opened and then ran a Greek diner, Central Café, in Kearney,[2] after changing his name from Georgios Petropoulos. Peter began working at the cash register at age 8.[2] Expelled from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology forplagiarizing a term paper in his freshman year, Peterson enrolled atNorthwestern University andThe Kellogg School, graduating in 1947 with highest academic honors,summa cum laude.[2][9] Peterson was first married from 1948 to 1950 to Kris Krengel, a journalism student atNorthwestern University.[10] He joined Market Facts upon graduation, a Chicago-based market research firm, in 1948.[11] In 1951, he received anMBA degree from theUniversity of Chicago Graduate School of Business before returning to Market Facts as an executive vice president.[2]
Peterson joined advertising agencyMcCann Erickson in 1953, again in Chicago, where he served as a director.[4] He joined movie-equipment makerBell and Howell Corporation in 1958 as executive vice president.[5] He later succeededCharles H. Percy as chairman and CEO, positions he held from 1963 to 1971.[4]
In 1969, he was invited by philanthropistJohn D. Rockefeller III, CFR chairmanJohn J. McCloy, and former treasury secretaryDouglas Dillon to chair a Commission on Foundations and Private Philanthropy, which became known as the Peterson Commission.[2] Among its recommendations adopted by the government were thatfoundations be required annually to disburse a minimum proportion of their funds.[4]
In 1971, he was named assistant to the president for international economic affairs byU.S. presidentRichard Nixon.[1] In April 1971, Peterson produced a secret report for Nixon on the volatile world economy that argued that the U.S. was in economic decline under the existing world order of trade, which the U.S. had helped build immediately after World War II. To stem that decline, according to Peterson, the U.S. must challenge competing nations in the trading sphere by adoptingindustrial policy. The report impressed Nixon and the idea of American competitive decline soon became "an article of popular belief". The report established some of the intellectual foundations of Nixon's decision in August 1971 to upend theBretton Woods agreement. Professional economists derided the thesis as a form ofmercantilism that betrayed "economic illiteracy".[12]
In 1972, Peterson becameSecretary of Commerce, a position he held for one year.[2] At that time he also assumed the chairmanship of Nixon's National Commission on Productivity and was appointed U.S. Chairman of the U.S.–Soviet Commercial Commission.[2] During his tenure, Peterson was a strong critic of the rising financial debt of the United States.[1]
Peterson was chairman and CEO ofLehman Brothers (1973–1977) andLehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc. (1977–1984).[13]
In 1985, Peterson andStephen A. Schwarzman co-founded the private equity and investment management firm theBlackstone Group, and for many years Peterson was its chairman.[14] At Blackstone, he made a fortune, including the $1.9 billion he received when it went public in 2007, that funded many of his charitable and political causes.[15][16]
In 1992, he was one of the co-founders of theConcord Coalition, a bipartisan citizens' organization that advocates reduction of the federal budget deficit.[17] Following record deficits under PresidentGeorge W. Bush, Peterson said in 2004, "I remain aRepublican, but the Republicans have become a far more theological, faith-directed party, not troubling with evidence."[17]
In February 1994, PresidentBill Clinton named Peterson as a member of the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform co-chaired by SenatorsBob Kerrey andJohn Danforth.[2] He also served as co-chair of the Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprises (co-chaired byJohn Snow).[1]
Peterson succeededDavid Rockefeller as chairman of theCouncil on Foreign Relations in 1985 and served until his retirement from that position in 2007.[5] He served as trustee of theRockefeller family'sJapan Society and of theMuseum of Modern Art, and was previously on the board of Rockefeller Center Properties, Inc.[5][4]
He was the founding chairman of thePeterson Institute for International Economics (formerly the "Institute for International Economics", renamed in his honor in 2006), and a trustee of theCommittee for Economic Development.[5] He was also chairman of theFederal Reserve Bank of New York between 2000 and 2004.[5]
In 2008, he founded thePeter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF), an organization devoted to spreading public awareness onfiscal sustainability issues related to the national debt, federal deficits, Social Security policy, and tax policies.[2] PGPF distributed the 2008 documentary filmI.O.U.S.A. and did outreach to the 2008 presidential candidates.[18]
Peterson fundedThe Fiscal Times, a news website that reports on current economic issues, including the federal budget, the deficit, entitlements, health care, personal savings, taxation, and theglobal economy.[1]Fiscal Times contributors and editors include several veteran economics reporters forThe New York Times andThe Washington Post.[1][2]
On August 4, 2010, it was announced that Peterson had signed "The Giving Pledge". He was one of 40 billionaires, led byBill Gates andWarren Buffett, who agreed to give at least half their wealth to charity.[19] Most of his giving was to his own foundation,The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which focuses on raising public awareness about long-termfiscal sustainability issues.[2]
From 2007 through 2011, Peterson was reported to have contributed $458 million to thePeter G. Peterson Foundation, to promote the cause of fiscal responsibility.[20]
Peterson opposed theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 because it cut corporate and other taxes by raising the debt. "Mortgaging our fiscal future for trillions in temporary tax cuts will hurt our economy over time, and every C.E.O. should know that", he said. "True business patriots need to advocate for their country as well as their company."[21]
Peterson was married three times and divorced twice.[3] In 1953, he married formerBrown University psychology professor Sally Hornbogen Peterson, a trustee of theDalton School and a graduate ofNorthwestern University, with whom he had five children: John Scott Peterson, James Jim Peterson, David Peterson, Michael Alexander Peterson,[7] and the writerHolly Peterson.[22][23] They divorced in 1979.[22] The next year, Peterson marriedJoan Ganz Cooney, the co-creator of the popular American educational children's television seriesSesame Street.[24]
In his autobiography, Peterson recalled his business and private life and blamed himself for the failure of two of his three marriages but expressed pride for having grown close to his children.[25]
Peterson died on March 20, 2018, at age 91, of natural causes at hisManhattan home.[1][2][3] He is survived by his children, his wife Joan, and nine grandchildren.
In 1962, Peterson received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[26]
In recognition of his support, the influential[27]Peterson Institute for International Economics was named in his honor in 2006.[5]
In 2006, Peterson was honored with theWoodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of theSmithsonian Institution.[1] The same year he was elected a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[20]
Peter Peterson Kearney Nebraska.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Commerce 1972–1973 | Succeeded by |
