Howard Charles Petersen (May 7, 1910 – December 28, 1995) was an American government official and banker. He was the

United States Assistant Secretary of War The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of August 5 ...

from 1945 to 1947.

Education and early career

Petersen was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

. He graduated from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

in 1930 and the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

in 1933. From 1933 to 1941, Petersen was an associate in the New York law firm Cravath, deGersdorff, Swaine & Wood (the predecessor firm to

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisiti ...

). While at the Cravath firm, Petersen was introduced to Grenville Clark, through which connection he came to be a principal drafter of the

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, , was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday b ...

. In 1944 Petersen served as Executive Assistant to the Undersecretary of War. In December 1945, Petersen was appointed the

Assistant Secretary of War The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of August 5 ...

by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, a position he held until August 1947. He was the last person to hold that title, since the Department of War became part of the new

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

in 1947. He worked on the economic recovery of occupied

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the Western Allies and supervised U.S. military occupational activities in Germany, Japan,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. One of his significant contributions was to help prevent famine in Europe by laying the groundwork for the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

After World War II

Petersen joined Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company in 1947 as executive vice president and went on to serve as the bank's president (1950–66), CEO (1966–75) and chairman (1966–78). Meanwhile, from 1961–63, Petersen served as Special Assistant to President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

for International Trade Policy, in which he managed Kennedy's controversial campaign for a new foreign trade policy. His main task was to assist with the passage of the

Trade Expansion Act The Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (, codified at ) is an American trade law. Section 232 of the Act permits the President to impose tariffs based on a recommendation by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce if "an article is being imported into the Unite ...

of 1962, and he also negotiated the conclusion of the 1960-62 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations with the European Economic Community.

Other activities

In addition, Petersen served as a Director of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

Corporation, and a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Petersen was chairman of the boards of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, the

University of Pennsylvania Museum The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly known as the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighb ...

, and the Marshall Foundation, and chairman and advisory committee member of Export-Import Bank. He was also a member of the Century Association, the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Personal life

In 1936, Petersen married Elizabeth Anna Watts of Princeton, Indiana, with whom he had two children: Elizabeth Anna and Howard Jr. Elizabeth married then-Harvard instructor Herbert Spiro in June 1958. Petersen was survived by his daughter and two grandchildren, Peter Spiro and Alexander Spiro.

Notes

External links

Howard C. Petersen Files, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

Howard C. Petersen Papers at Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Howard Charles People from East Chicago, Indiana DePauw University alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni 1910 births 1995 deaths Place of death missing 20th-century American lawyers United States Assistant Secretaries of War Cravath, Swaine & Moore associates