Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who steered U.S. monetary policy during his five terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve under four presidents, died June 22 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 100.

Greenspan helped to define modern American capitalism from the final years of the Cold War era through the dawn of the digital age. He presided over the Fed during one of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history, a boom stretching from 1991 to 2001.

Greenspan’s initial foray into the political world came in 1967, when he served as an adviser on Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. He assisted with Mixon’s transition to the Oval Office, but turned down an official role in the administration.

In Gerald Ford’s administration, he took a position as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, serving until 1977. He pursued policies that, together with tighter monetary policy from the Paul Volcker-led Federal Reserve, helped reduce inflation from 11% to 6.5%.

Greenspan received various national and international accolades: In 2000, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor; in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II named him an honorary Knight of the British Empire. In 2005, then-President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor.

In a statement on Greenspan’s death, the Fed said, he “brought rigorous analytical discipline to monetary policymaking, and helped establish the credibility that remains one of the central bank’s most important assets. Chairman Greenspan’s legacy endures at the Federal Reserve — in those he mentored directly, in the economists and public servants he inspired, and in the frameworks and practices he helped shape.”