J. Peter Grace
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J. Peter Grace (1913 - 1995) was a multimillionaire American industrialist and conglomerateur of Irish Catholic extraction.
Peter Grace was the king of man who, at age seventy, Indian-wrestled fellow chairmen of the board at his desk, showered in the evening to save time getting to work in the morning, wore a pistol (for terrorists), and, as a Democrat, took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to support President Reagan's tax cuts. source
In the Kennedy administration, J. Peter Grace was head of the Commerce Department Committee on the Alliance for Progress. source
President Reagan said of J. Peter Grace
- We have a problem that's been 40 years in the making, and we have to find ways to solve it. And I didn't want to ruin your appetites, so I waited till now to tell you this, but during the hour we're together here eating and talking, the Government has spent $83 million. And by the way, that includes the price of your lunch. [Laughter] Milton Friedman is right. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. The interest on our debt for the last hour was about $10 million of that.
- In selecting your Committee, we didn't care whether you were Democrats or Republicans. Starting with Peter Grace, we just wanted to get the very best people we could find, and I think we were successful.
- I'll repeat to you today what I said a week ago when I announced Peter's appointment: Be bold. We want your team to work like tireless bloodhounds. Don't leave any stone unturned in your search to root out inefficiency. source
Mr. Grace, a Democrat, was asked what he would say to the campaign theme of Mr. Mondale, the Democratic Presidential candidate, that higher taxes would be required to ease the deficit regardless of who wins the November election.
"I'd tell him he's nuts," Mr. Grace said. "He's wrong. He's wrong." NY Times source
He was president of the chemical company, W. R. Grace & Co. for 48 years, making him the longest reigning CEO of a public company. He was responsible for the Grace Commission Report, and co-founded Citizens Against Government Waste.
"There is nothing I dislike more than being a loser in anything," he said in an interview in Fortune magazine.
In 1984, Mr. Grace received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
He was devoutly Catholic, and was a Knight of Malta.
