Roger Altman

Altman was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was raised in Boston as a Catholic.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/nyregion/07parochial.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Paul |last=Vitello |title=Wealthy Donors Push for Change in Catholic Schools |date=2011-02-06}} His father, a food broker, died when he was 10 years old, and his mother, a librarian, raised Altman and his brother as a single mother.{{cite news|last1=Uchitelle|first1=Louis|title=Altman's Double Life as a Politician Brings Him to the Edge of Scandal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/02/us/altman-s-double-life-as-a-politician-brings-him-to-the-edge-of-scandal.html?pagewanted=2|access-date=17 June 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 2, 1994}} He attended the Roxbury Latin School.{{cite news|last1=Greenhouse|first1=Steven|title=Washington at Work; War Room General Plots Fight on Economic Turf|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/01/us/washington-at-work-war-room-general-plots-fight-on-economic-turf.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 1, 1993}}

He attended Georgetown University, where he met future President Bill Clinton, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967. In 1969 he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, but took time off in 1968 to work in Indiana organizing volunteers for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/02/us/altman-s-double-life-as-a-politician-brings-him-to-the-edge-of-scandal.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times| first=Louis | last=Uchitelle | title=Altman's Double Life as a Politician Brings Him to the Edge of Scandal | date=2 August 1994}}

After graduating from business school in 1969, Altman began working at Lehman Brothers, where he grew close to chairman Peter G. Peterson. In 1974, he was made general partner at the age of 28—the youngest in Lehman's history. He left Lehman in 1977 to serve as Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance in the U.S. Treasury from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter, for whom he had fundraised when Carter was Governor of Georgia, and campaigned for in 1976, as well as working on his transition team. As Assistant Secretary, Altman played a "role in negotiating the Federal Government's $1.5 billion bailout of the Chrysler Corporation."

In 1981, he returned to Lehman Brothers, where he became the co-head of investment banking and served on the board of the company and the management committee. During the 1980s, he was a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Yale University School of Management. In 1987, Altman joined the Blackstone Group as vice-chairman and head of its mergers and acquisitions advisory business.David Carey and John E. Morris, [http://king-of-capital.com/ King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone] (Crown 2010), pp. 57-58 During the Reagan-Bush years, he fundraised for Democratic politicians such as Vice President Walter F. Mondale, Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. He also advised two New York City Mayors, Ed Koch and David N. Dinkins.

When Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, he urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen to take Altman on as his Deputy Secretary. He was confirmed in January 1993.{{cite news|title=Deputy Treasury Secretary Confirmation Hearing, Senate Finance Committee|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?37374-1/deputy-treasury-secretary-confirmation-hearin |work=C-SPAN|date=January 13, 1993}} Once on the job, Altman was viewed as "the favorite to succeed the 73-year-old Treasury Secretary," and he played a large role in some of the Clinton administration's biggest legislative victories, such as the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the "approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement." He was associated with the moderate economic policies of the Clinton administration" and had a reputation as a "deficit hawk."{{cite news|author1=Ross Colvin|author2=Glenn Somerville|title=Obama interviews Altman as new economic adviser|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-altman-idUSTRE6AF5X820101117|work=Reuters|date=November 16, 2010}}

However, he resigned in 1994, after it was revealed that Altman had notified the Clinton White House of the criminal referrals made by the Resolution Trust Corporation.{{Cite web|title=Cast of Characters |website=CNN |date=1999 |url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/resources/1999/whitewater/players.html?eref=sitesearch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203202020/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/resources/1999/whitewater/players.html?eref=sitesearch%20%22Cast%20of%20Characters%22 |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |url-status=live}}[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/infocus/whitewater/rtc.html "The RTC Investigation'"], CNN, July 7, 1997{{cite web|title=Roger, Over and Out?|date=August 8, 1994|author=Duffy, Michael|accessdate=2024-01-09|publisher=Time|url=https://time.com/archive/6725794/roger-over-and-out/}} After nearly 15 hours of testimony in February 1993 before the House and Senate Banking Committees, he submitted his resignation in August 1994, saying that he hoped his resignation would "help to diminish the controversy." He was succeeded by Frank N. Newman, who was the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the time.

In 1995, instead of returning to Blackstone,King of Capital, pp. 121-23. he co-founded Evercore, an "independent investment banking advisory firm" in New York City, and currently serves as its chairman. By 2014, Evercore was "a major player,"{{cite news|last1=Harrington |first1=Jeff|title=Roger Altman tells Tampa clients there's little to fear on the economic horizon |url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/markets/roger-altman-tells-tampa-clients-theres-little-to-fear-on-the-economic/2202653/|work=Tampa Bay Times|date=October 17, 2014}} and its investment management arm had more than $14 billion in assets under management, with its investment banking advisory arm boasting $1.5 trillion in "announced transactions."{{cite web|title=Overview: Evercore Partners |url=http://www.evercore.com/about|website=Evercore Partners|access-date=7 December 2014}} Evercore advised General Motors through its bankruptcy, and was paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy. However, when it asked for a $17.9 million "success fee," a U.S. bankruptcy trustee called the fees "staggering," "inordinately large," and "clearly [exceeding] the bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtors."{{cite news|url=http://dailybail.com/home/goldman-alum-roger-altman-steals-46-million-from-taxpayers-l.html |title=Goldman Alum Roger Altman STEALS $46 Million From Taxpayers, Lobbies To Replace Larry Summers & Complete Government Sachs Round Trip #2 - Home |newspaper=The Daily Bail |date=2010-11-19 |access-date=2016-02-02}}

Politically, Altman continued to stay in the loop. He advised two presidential candidates—John Kerry in 2004,{{cite news|last1=Gongloff|first1=Mark|title=Kerry adviser a Whitewater casualty |work=CNN|date=3 March 2004 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2004/03/03/news/economy/altman/}} and Hillary Clinton in 2008.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052901029.html |title=Clinton Is A Politician Not Easily Defined |newspaper=Washington Post |date=30 May 2006 |access-date=2010-05-09 |first=Dan |last=Balz}} In 2010, President Barack Obama interviewed him as a potential candidate to replace Larry Summers as his National Economic Council director, a job that ultimately went to Gene Sperling.{{cite news|author1=Lori Montgomery|title=Gene Sperling to replace Larry Summers as head of National Economic Council|newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 7, 2011 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/AR2011010705451.html}}

Altman has sat on the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2006,{{cite web|title=Hospital Leadership - Board of Trustees|url=http://nyp.org/about/board-trustees.html|publisher=New York Presbyterian|access-date=7 July 2019}} Vice Chairman of the Board of the American Museum of Natural History, and Chairman of New Visions for Public Schools. Additionally, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Director of Conservation International,{{cite web|title=Roger C. Altman: Founder and Executive Chairman|url=http://www.evercore.com/team/2/all/20/bio/34/about/Executive-Team|website=Evercore|access-date=7 December 2014}} and an Advisory Council member for The Hamilton Project, a Brookings Institution economic policy initiative.{{cite web|title=Advisory Council: Roger C. Altman|url=http://www.hamiltonproject.org/about_us/our_people/roger_c._altman/|website=The Hamilton Project|access-date=7 December 2014}}

Altman is listed as a member of the Steering Committee of The Bilderberg Group, a controversial group of influential business and government leaders who meet annually behind closed doors to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. He participated in all their conferences between 2008 and 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/steering-committee.html |title=Steering Committee |publisher=Bilderberg Meetings |access-date=2016-02-02 |archive-date=2014-05-21 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140521120713/http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/steering-committee.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/15684752/Bilderberg-Meeting-2009-Greece-Complete-Members-List |title=Bilderberg Meeting 2009 Greece Complete Members List |publisher=Scribd.com |access-date=2010-05-09}}

His first marriage to Barbara ended in divorce, and he remarried at age 35 to journalist Jurate Kazickas in 1981. The Rev. James N. English of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. performed the marriage ceremony at the San Luis Rey Chapel at Cat Cay in the Bahamas.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/07/arts/jurate-kazickas-bride-of-roger-altman.html| newspaper=The New York Times| title=Jurate Kazickas Bride of Roger Altman | date=7 December 1981}} They have three children. In 1992, he collapsed while jogging in Central Park due to an irregular heartbeat. His hobbies include jogging, skiing, fly-fishing, and tennis.

• {{cite journal|title=The Great Crash, 2008: A Geopolitical Setback for the West|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=January–February 2009|volume=88|issue=1|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63714/roger-c-altman/the-great-crash-2008}}
• {{cite news|title=Obama's Business Plan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/opinion/19altman.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 19, 2010}}
• (with Richard Haass) {{cite journal|title=American Profligacy and American Power: The Consequences of Fiscal Irresponsibility|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=November–December 2010|volume=89|issue=6|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66778/roger-c-altman-and-richard-n-haass/american-profligacy-and-american-power}}
• {{cite journal|title=The Fall and Rise of the West: Why America and Europe Will Emerge Stronger From the Financial Crisis|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=January–February 2013|volume=92|issue=1|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138463/roger-c-altman/the-fall-and-rise-of-the-west}}

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Category:1946 births

Category:Catholics from Massachusetts

Category:Clinton administration personnel

Category:Georgetown University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group

Category:Private equity and venture capital investors

Category:Roxbury Latin School alumni

Category:Blackstone Inc. people

Category:United States Deputy Secretaries of the Treasury

Category:University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni

Category:Lehman Brothers people