Walter Rutherford Peterson Jr. (September 19, 1922 – June 1, 2011) was an American realtor, educator, and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician from

Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is defined as the Peterborough census-designated place (CDP) and ...

, who served in the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

and two terms as the 72nd

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Verm ...

from 1969 to 1973.

Early life

Peterson was born September 19, 1922 in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...

, and graduated from Nashua High School and

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 305 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the student-faculty ratio is five t ...

. He attended the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1947. Peterson left his college studies to fulfill four years' service as a

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

officer in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Peterson became a partner in The Petersons, Inc., a real estate firm in Peterborough, New Hampshire where he and family members worked until the late 1990s. He married Dorothy Donovan in 1949. They had two children, Margaret and Andrew.

Political career

Peterson joined New Hampshire state politics in 1961 where he served as a representative and House Speaker.

Governorship

Peterson, a moderate Republican, was governor from 1969–1973; in a period when the state was experiencing rapid growth and looking for ways to fund new infrastructure costs. He lost a bid for re-election in 1972 after renouncing a pledge to veto any attempt to institute an

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

. In later years, he warned the state Republican party against becoming too far right on the political spectrum.

Life after politics

After Peterson's term as governor, he became President of

Franklin Pierce College Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional development, professional preparation. The scho ...

in 1975, and served until his retirement in 1995. He also served one year as president of the

. In 1996 he became a trustee of the

University System of New Hampshire The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is a system of public colleges and universities in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It was established in 1963 and is responsible for overseeing the University of New Hampshire - Durham, the Universit ...

. The University built a residence hall named SERC Hall B In 2007, on October 11, 2013, this hall was renamed to Peterson Hall in his honor. During the 2008 election cycle, Peterson served as honorary chairman of John McCain's campaign during the New Hampshire primary, and as Chairman of ''Republicans for Lynch'', a group of Republicans supporting the re-election of Democratic governor John Lynch. At age 86, his name emerged as a possible appointee to the United States Senate if

Judd Gregg Judd Alan Gregg (born February 14, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 76th governor of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1993 and was a United States senator from New Hampshire; in the Senate, Gregg served as chairman of the ...

accepted the offer to serve as Secretary of Commerce in the cabinet of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Gregg, however, subsequently withdrew his name from consideration after he was nominated.

Death

In March 2011, Peterson (who was not a smoker) was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on June 1.http://www.wmur.com/politics/28106557/detail.html

References

External links

Peterson at New Hampshire's Division of Historic Resources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Walter R. Jr. 1922 births 2011 deaths Republican Party governors of New Hampshire Speakers of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Republican Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Dartmouth College alumni College of William & Mary alumni Franklin Pierce University faculty Presidents of the University of New Hampshire Deaths from lung cancer People from Peterborough, New Hampshire United States Navy personnel of World War II New Hampton School alumni