Alan Greenspan, 13th Fed chairman, dies at 100

On 22 June 2026 the Federal Reserve announced the death of Alan Greenspan, the 13th Chairman of the Board of Governors; Greenspan was 100, per the Washington Post obituary.¹² Greenspan served from 1987 to 2006 under four presidents. The Board’s statement said he “guided the Federal Reserve through periods of significant economic expansion as well as periods of considerable stress,” that under his leadership “the Federal Reserve achieved a sustained era of price stability that supported economic growth and helped anchor the public’s confidence in the institution,” and that he “helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve’s most important assets”; it extended condolences to his wife, the journalist Andrea Mitchell, and his family.¹

1. The institutional mechanism through which the death lands is the Fed’s own review of its policy record: Chairman Kevin M. Warsh announced at his first post-meeting press conference on 17 June 2026 — five days before Greenspan’s death — that he was “appointing a task force in each of five areas that are central to the broad conduct of monetary policy,” and the Greenspan-era record — the 18-year chairmanship, the longest since William McChesney Martin’s 1951-1970 service, spanning the October 1987 crash just over two months into his tenure and the 1990s expansion — is part of the record that review examines.³⁴ Greenspan was appointed by President Reagan in 1987 and reappointed by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush, leaving office 31 January 2006, succeeded by Ben S. Bernanke.⁴ His death comes one month into the chairmanship of Warsh — who joined the Board as a governor on 24 February 2006, weeks after Greenspan’s departure, and served through the 2008 crisis (see FOMC June meeting: Warsh’s first as Chair).⁵