He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane was shot down.

He joined the United States Air Force and served in the Vietnam War, where his F-4 Phantom II fighter was shot down on September 10, 1966.

In 1990, Peterson ran as a Democrat for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 2nd congressional district.

[4] Peterson declined to run for a fourth term (he was succeeded by Allen Boyd) and was asked by President Bill Clinton to become the United States's first post-war ambassador to Vietnam.

Two weeks after his installation in Hanoi, he met Vi Le, Australia's senior trade commissioner, born in Vietnam, whom he married.