doi:10.7916/5csz-5y35Oral history interview with David M. Cote, 2021Cote, David Moral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesGlobal Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United StatesHealth care reform--United StatesDebts, Public--United StatesCote, David MObama, BarackTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (2016 February 4)United StatesUnited States. National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and ReformAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009David Cote reflects on his business career and discusses his activities during the years of the Obama presidency, throughout which he was chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell. He remembers the early indicators of the global financial crisis and economic recession, his impressions of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, and the challenges facing large American businesses around the time of Obama's first inauguration. Cote interacted frequently with President Obama and members of the Obama administration, and he provides details about the advisory and supportive role he played in relation to the administration's efforts to stimulate the economy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, reform the American healthcare system, resolve congressional budget disputes, stabilize the federal debt, and enhance the international competitiveness of American businesses. Also discussed are the need for greater stimulus spending to compensate for the reduction in aggregate demand caused by the financial crisis and recession, Cote's service on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (the Simpson-Bowles Commission) and as chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, his involvement with congressional negotiations related to the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff, his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the rapport and relationships that Cote developed with President Obama and members of the Obama administration, and the evolving role of business in American life