Why I'll Miss Preston Martin

We all know who was the first guy to walk on the Moon. Does anyone remember, the "second" guy?

Thought so.

By the way, it was Buzz Aldrin. But old Buzz didn't get the buzz — second bananas rarely do.

Just like my friend Preston never did.

You see, the big banana in his day was Paul Volcker. Volcker was chairman of the Federal Reserve. Preston was his No. 2. I suspect Preston hoped some day to become No. 1. But that job later went to Alan Greenspan.

Preston could have been bitter — maybe even petty. I've seen others offended far less, rant and rage far more. But not Preston — a man who could have made a ton of money on Wall Street, but told me he preferred to make a difference on main street.

pushing housing for the poor and removing lending practices he said deliberately targeted the poor.

And not just the poor. It was old Preston who discovered the biggest obstacle to buying a home was putting down 20 percent to get that home. So he founded the PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, to help people over that hurdle.

Yet he could never get over that No. 2 hurdle.

It didn't much matter to Preston. It does matter to me. Because Preston's gone now, succumbing this past week to the cancer he so bravely fought.

I wanted you to know what he did, even though many of you might not know who he was. Because he opened a lot of doors and deserves a lot of thanks.

Preston Martin dead at age 83.

We will miss you, my friend.

Watch Neil Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on "Your World with Cavuto" and send your comments to cavuto@foxnews.com