Pete Peterson

{{Short description|American politician and diplomat (born 1935)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Pete Peterson

| image name = petepeterson.jpg{{!}}border

| image_size = 255px

| birth_name = Douglas Brian Peterson

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|06|26}}

| birth_place = Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.

| state1 = Florida

| district1 = 2nd

| term_start1 = January 3, 1991

| term_end1 = January 3, 1997

| preceded1 = Bill Grant

| succeeded1 = Allen Boyd

| office = Ambassador of the United States of America to Vietnam

| term_start = April 11, 1997

| term_end = July 15, 2001

| president = Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

| predecessor = Inaugural holder

| succeeded = Raymond Burghardt

| citizenship = American,{{cite news|title=Pete Peterson starts business|url=https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/09/16/prisoner-booster-former-pow-eager-watch-the-vietnam-war/658723001/|access-date=30 October 2024|newspaper=Tallahassee Democrat|date=16 September 2017}} Australian (since 2002)

| nationality = American

| party = Democrat

| allegiance = United States

| branch = United States Air Force

| nickname = "Pete"

| serviceyears = 1954–1980

| rank = Colonel

| unit = 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron

| battles = Vietnam War{{WIA}}

| mawards = Silver Star (2)
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star Medal (3)
Purple Heart

}}

Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26, 1935) is an American politician and diplomat. He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane was shot down. He served three terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 1996 and returned to Hanoi when he became the first United States Ambassador to Vietnam in 1997. He was an ambassador until July 2001, after which he devoted himself to philanthropic work.

Early life and education

Peterson grew up in Milton, Iowa, and attended college at the University of Tampa. He joined the United States Air Force and served in the Vietnam War, where his F-4 Phantom II fighter was shot down on September 10, 1966. He spent six years in prison, a period he described as "hours and hours of boredom, spliced with moments of stark terror."{{cite news|last=Webb|first=Carolyn|title=POW's journey to Australia, via love in Vietnam |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/pows-journey-to-australia-via-love-in-vietnam-20090916-frp6.html|access-date=8 October 2010|newspaper=The Age|date=17 September 2009}} He was released on March 4, 1973.

Career

After the Vietnam War, Peterson remained in the Air Force and retired in 1981 as a colonel with 26 years of service. After retirement he established a general contracting firm in Tampa, Florida and later a small computer company in Marianna, Florida called CRT Computers. He served for 5 years on the faculty of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

= Congress =

In 1990, Peterson ran as a Democrat for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 2nd congressional district. He defeated Bill Grant, the incumbent congressman who had grown unpopular after switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the middle of his second term. Peterson won and served three terms from 1991 to 1996.{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/clinton-sends-ambassador-to-communist-vietnam-076051 | author=Andrew Glass | date=May 9, 2012 | website=Politico | title=Clinton sends ambassador to Communist Vietnam}}

Jason Altmire, who later became a three-term congressman himself, was a staffer during Peterson’s first campaign and time in Congress.{{cite web | url=https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2023/11/former-pennsylvania-rep-jason-altmire-leads-a-discussion-on-american-partisanship-at-kpu-election-day-event | author=Phillip Kulubya | date=November 16, 2023 | website=The American Eagle | title=Former U.S. Representative leads discussion on partisanship at KPU Election Day event}}

= Ambassador to Vietnam =

Peterson declined to run for a fourth term (he was succeeded by Allen Boyd) and was asked by President Bill Clinton to become the United States's first post-war ambassador to Vietnam. He was confirmed by the Senate and began his tenure in 1997. His primary goals were securing an account of those still listed as missing in action from the war and helping to resolve the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.

= Presidential Citizens Medal =

On November 17, 2000, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton.{{cite web | url=https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/textonly/library/hot_releases/November_17_2000_6.html | title= Remarks of President Clinton to embassy personnel | date=November 17, 2000}}

=Philanthropy and business=

Since retiring as ambassador, Peterson founded The Alliance for Safe Children, TASC, which aims to lower preventable injuries to children worldwide, and focuses specifically on such issues as drowning in Asia.{{cite news|title=Children from developing world dying of preventable injuries: UN|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200210/s694479.htm|access-date=5 October 2010|newspaper=ABC News|date=6 October 2002}}{{Cite web|title=Pete Peterson: The ex-POW teaching Vietnam to swim|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21770163|author=William Kremer|date=23 March 2013|publisher=BBC News magazine}} With his wife he started a company whose aim it is to promote American business in Southeast Asia.{{cite news|title=Pete Peterson starts business|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZoUeAAAAIBAJ&pg=4396,1567512&dq=pete-peterson+vietnam&hl=en|access-date=8 October 2010|newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|date=27 February 2002}}

Peterson later was a senior advisor for Albright Stonebridge Group, an international strategic consulting firm.{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/clinton-sends-ambassador-to-communist-vietnam-076051 | author=Andrew Glass | date=May 9, 2012 | website=Politico | title=Clinton sends ambassador to Communist Vietnam}}

Personal life

Peterson's first wife died in 1995. Two weeks after his installation in Hanoi, he met Vi Le, Australia's senior trade commissioner, born in Vietnam, whom he married. In 2002, he moved to Melbourne, Australia, so they could be closer to her family.

In 2009, Peterson acquired Australian citizenship.