The Concord Coalition mourns the loss of its founding President Peter G. Peterson, who died today at the age of 91. Executive Director Robert L. Bixby issued the following statement:
Pete Peterson lived the American Dream. As a depression-era child of Greek immigrants, Pete rose from dishwasher at his parents’ diner in Kearney, Nebraska to become one of the nation’s top business leaders, a presidential cabinet member and a best-selling author.
He began sounding the alarm about the nation’s unsustainable debt many years ago, warning that demographic trends, rising health care costs, and political procrastination could jeopardize the country’s future. But Pete did more than sound the alarm. He was a tireless advocate for bipartisan reforms to put the federal budget on a sustainable path, encourage economic growth, preserve America’s global leadership and protect our children and future generations from excessive government debt.
His desire to ensure that the American Dream would endure for future generations led to his passion for fiscal responsibility and to his co-founding of The Concord Coalition with Paul Tsongas and Warren Rudman in 1992. Pete served for many years as president of The Concord Coalition and was a very generous supporter of our public engagement efforts. We continue to draw inspiration from his example.
As Rudman once said, “Pete Peterson cares about the debt because he’s a patriot. He truly believes in this country and the promise it holds for all its citizens and he wants to make sure that the promise will be there for future generations.”
Our condolences go out to Pete’s family and to the staff of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation as they carry on Pete’s legacy of support for fiscal and generational responsibility.
