John E. Berthoud, Ph.D., was President of the National Taxpayers Union

National Taxpayers Union

National Taxpayers Union is a taxpayers advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. NTU advertises that it is the largest and oldest grassroots taxpayer organization in the nation, with 362,000 members nationwide. It is closely...

 from 1997 until his death on September 27, 2007.

John Berthoud was born in West Hartford, CT on May 23, 1962. Berthoud earned a B.A. in government from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, a masters in international affairs from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and a Ph.D. in political economy from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. Berthoud served as vice president and Senior Fellow of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution

Alexis de Tocqueville Institution

The Alexis de Tocqueville Institution is a Washington, D.C.–based conservative think tank that produced reports and policy research....

 and was as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University

George Washington University

The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

.

Berthoud was best known for his leadership of the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF). He authored NTUF's first Issue Brief in 1998, which concluded that had term limits been in place for the U.S. Senate, the Balanced Budget Amendment

Balanced Budget Amendment

A balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government....

would have easily passed instead of falling just one vote short. Subsequently, Dr. Berthoud would conduct analyses concluding, among other things, that tax relief opponents in Congress were motivated by the desire to spend more money on federal programs than any concern over budget deficits. Dr. Berthoud was involved in the leadership of the World Taxpayers Associations, which consists of more than 50 organizations.

After his death The Washington Times newspaper's obituary quoted former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks, saying "We fought a number of important battles side by side with John over the years... Freedom has lost a champion."

Berthoud died of natural causes on September 27, 2007.