Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan Dies at 100

Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has died at age 100 from complications of Parkinson's disease, his family announced.

His wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said: 'To me, he was the husband who shaped my life from our first date in 1984. He had a fierce passion for baseball, the Washington Commanders, tennis, golf and music, especially jazz. He will be remembered for his brilliance and kindness. Being his partner was the joy of my life.'

During more than 18 years leading the Fed, Greenspan oversaw a prolonged period of U.S. economic growth and prosperity, but also left a heavy legacy with the 2008 financial crisis, two years after he left the central bank.

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, Greenspan immediately faced a challenge when the stock market suffered its worst single-day sell-off, with the Dow Jones index losing more than 22% just two months after he took office. He earned widespread praise for helping restore calm and stability, vowing the Fed would provide ample cash to the financial system.

Greenspan also guided the economy through the Asian and Russian financial crises of 1997–1998, the collapse of the dot-com stock bubble in 2000, and the economic fallout after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The Fed said in a statement: 'Under his leadership, the Fed achieved a period of sustained price stability, supported economic growth, and strengthened public confidence in the institution.'

However, Greenspan’s reputation suffered after his term ended in 2006, when the U.S. housing market collapsed, triggering the worst recession since the 1930s. Critics blamed his policies for fueling asset bubbles and setting the stage for the 2007–2009 financial crisis.

Stephen Oliner, a former senior Fed official, said: 'The near-cult status before the crisis was never fully deserved, and the criticism afterward was not entirely fair either.' Greenspan himself later admitted 'I made a mistake' in assuming banks could self-regulate.

After leaving office, Greenspan continued to draw attention. In his 2007 memoir 'The Age of Turbulence,' he wrote: 'I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.'

Greenspan was born on March 6, 1926, in New York, the only child of Rose and Herbert Greenspan. His parents divorced when he was young, and he lived with his mother and grandparents in a small apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood. His first passion was music; he studied for two years at Juilliard and played saxophone in a swing band before turning to economics at New York University.