Pete Peterson

Pete Peterson

Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26, 1935 in Omaha , Nebraska ) is an American politician . Between 1991 and 1997 he represented the state of Florida in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Pete Peterson attended Milton Public High School until 1953 . Between 1954 and 1980 he was a soldier in the US Air Force . He was used in the Vietnam War. In September 1966, his plane was shot down. He was able to save himself, but ended up in a six-year captivity. He was released in March 1973. In the following years he studied as a member of the Air Force until 1976 at the University of Tampa in Florida and then until 1977 at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant . Between 1984 and 1990, Peterson taught philosophy at Florida State University in Tallahassee .

Politically, Peterson joined the Democratic Party . In the 1990 congressional elections , he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the second constituency of Florida , where he succeeded James W. Grant on January 3, 1991 . After two re-elections, he was able to complete three legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1997 .

In 1996, Peterson declined to run again for Congress. Instead, he was named the United States' first official ambassador to Vietnam by President Bill Clinton . He held this post between 1997 and 2001. In his new post he supported the search for missing persons from the Vietnam War. After retiring as a diplomat, Peterson founded the global children's charity The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC). Together with his second wife, the Vietnamese-born Australian Vi Lee, he founded a company that seeks to promote American trade in Southeast Asia. Peterson has lived in Melbourne , where his wife lives, since 1999 . In 2009 he applied for Australian citizenship.

Web links

• Pete Peterson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)