Alan Greenspan was lauded for his vision and ability throughout most of his tenure

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as Federal Reserve Chairman, a position he held from 1987 to 2006. Credited with ushering in an age of American prosperity, he was dubbed the “maestro” of the United States economy by journalist Bob Woodward. Mr. Greenspan, a self-described Republican, also reshaped the Fed over the course of his chairmanship, leaving it a far more active institution than it once had been.

Although Mr. Greenspan oversaw the longest period of economic expansion in American history, criticism of his tactics mounted as he prepared to leave office.

Many had begun to question the Fed’s handling of the dotcom bust, and still more would soon fault the central bank for its perceived inaction on the subprime housing bubble.

Mr. Greenspan later drew fire from those who thought the Fed’s laissez-faire monetary policies had encouraged traders to take dangerous risks in the securities market, to disastrous result.

In a move that many saw as an effort to reclaim his legacy, Mr. Greenspan presented a paper titled “The Crisis” at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2010. He acknowledged that that the Fed had inaccurately gauged the scope of the housing bubble; however, Mr.

Greenspan also maintained that the low interest rates the bank maintained from 2002 to 2005 were not a contributing factor to the crisis.

Not all agreed with Mr.

Greenspan’s take. In an assessment of his paper, The Economist tartly noted, “There is something odd about central bankers denying any responsibility at all for long-term rates.”