Statement from President Clinton and Secretary Clinton on the Passing of Peter G. Peterson 

Pete Peterson was a brilliant businessman, principled public servant, committed philanthropist, great friend and profoundly good man. Pete’s life was the embodiment of active citizenship. He believed that he had a moral duty to give back to the country that had helped him achieve so much. And give he did, as Commerce Secretary, Chair of the Council on Foreign Relations, and, to the very end, as leader of the Peterson Foundation’s efforts to involve young Americans in meeting our long-term challenges. Through it all, he never lost the common sense or basic decency he learned in his parents’ Greek diner in Nebraska.  Hillary and I send our thoughts and prayers to his wife, Joan, and his children, Michael, John, Jim, David, and Holly.