Customer Reviews

The Education of an American Dreamer: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond

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Pete Peterson's "The Education of an American Dreamer" is a summer reading book with extreme relevance to the worlds of business, finance, and public policy in the summer of 2009. One of the last true "lions of Wall Street," and one of America's most concerned public citizens, Peterson here tells his life story with serious introspection and often searing candor. From his origins in a Greek immigrant family in Nebraska, to becoming a billionaire with the success of The Blackstone Group, Peterson has never lost his ethical and moral bearings. For anyone thinking about the major issues faced by American business and by the Obama administration as we rebuild the American economy and the American dream, this is required reading. For any young person thinking about a career in finance or in government, this is a book that should be read before you go to your next interview.

Born to Greek immigrants and raised in Kearney, Nebraska in the 1930's, Peter Petersen learned the meaning of thrift and hard work from his father, who ran a 24-hour diner. From a young age, Peterson practiced his sales skills by selling meal cards to the diner's patrons; he did exceptionally well in his studies and set his sights on something bigger than the small town of Kearney. After a short stint at MIT and figuring out that he was not cut out for engineering, Peterson enrolled at Northwestern University.

His first post-college job was arguably the only dud of a job in Peterson's career, and he quickly realized that his "comparative advantage" did not lie in retail. What followed was a string of positions that led to Petersen being labeled as the "wunderkind" and the "economic Kissinger", among others. He was the youngest Vice President of an advertising company McCann-Erickson at age 27, the genius CEO at Black Bell & Howell, the commerce secretary under Nixon, CEO of Lehman Brothers, co-founder of the Blackstone Group, served on numerous boards and foundations and advised presidents on a variety of topics.

What sets Peterson apart is his lack of "preachiness". He does not pretend to know everything about building a career and he is the first to admit that he had no plan for his own. Throughout the book, he often refers to his promotions and achievements as just "dumb luck". What Peterson does do is bring attention to many worthwhile issues - some of the discussions sprinkled throughout the book focus on economic foreign policy, Cold War, U.S.' relationships with hostile countries, the Nixon administration and most importantly, U.S.' burgeoning budget deficits. Peterson is a strong believer that unless we make significant changes, our fiscal irresponsibility and the country's growing debt will significantly jeopardize future generations. His commitment to this issue has led to his latest project, the creation of the Peter G. Peterson foundation, to which he donated $1 billion of his own money.

If you're never picked up an autobiography before and even if you're not really interested in business and politics - try this book anyway. I doubt you will regret it. Peterson's candid writing interspersed with stories about his parents, his wives (he had three) and children (five) is very personal and enjoyable. His life is very compelling and there are many lessons to be learned in "The Education of an American Dreamer". If nothing else, you will appreciate the story of a true American dream, of pulling oneself up from meager beginnings to a position of influence and privilege.

THE EDUCATION OF AN
AMERICAN DREAMER
Peter G. Peterson
Twelve
Hackette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-446-55603-3
$34.99
Reviewer: Annie Slessman

As I read THE EDUCATION OF AN AMERICAN DREAMER, How A Son Of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way From A Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street and Beyond by Peter G. Peterson I heard the words of my own mother, "You and your willingness to work for it will determine what kind of life you have." It is apparent that Peter G. Peterson agrees with my mother.

Living in a small Nebraska town and working in his father's restaurant, Peterson learned early in life of the opportunities that living in America offered. Of Greek descent, his family worked hard and was very happy with the live they carved out for themselves in the U.S. Peterson's father financed his college education starting at MIT and eventually at Northwestern. No stranger to work, Peterson financed his social life at Northwestern by working as a waiter. Upon graduating from Northwestern he entered the advertising field and eventually worked his way into the financial sector.

The name Peter G. Peterson brings to one's mind the word success. From advertising to finance to politics, Peterson has proved to one and all that he has the ability and foresight to lead a generation of thinkers. His ability to say no to things that would tempt even the strongest of us, he has made choices in his life based on his own ideals and the ability to look forward. He is definitely not a man who lives for today only. He has always been a forward thinker, even today, as he wrote this work, he worries about what leaving a mess for our children and grandchildren. He even contributed one billion to finance his own Peter G. Peterson Foundation to hopefully educate our young in how to deal with the problems they are inheriting.

This was a good read. It provided a good analyst of today's problem areas while telling the story of a young Nebraskan man who made his life one that everyone will find interesting and motivating. In today's economy, $34.99 is a hefty price to pay for elective reading. However, I will go as far as to say, "It may be one of the best investments you make this year."

Buy this book if you hate money. This book in his attempt to suggest that he has been guided by a moral compass. He sold his interest in Blackstone by going public at $30.00 and now the stock in $10.00 in two years. Reads great until you take the time to learn about his reality. This is the first book that I deleted from my Kindle. He talks about his upbringing in Nebraska and then his being thrown out of MIT for cheating as a childhood error. On to the Nixon administration, president of Lehman Brothers for a while and then formed his partnership with Schwartzman which enabled him to receive $1.8 billion when they went public. Now he has set up this foundation of One billion dollars as a monument to his "Financial Success", but committed to "making the financial system better". This is the same system that enabled him to amass this money. But he is going to do it by working with Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, and Henry Kissenger to give back. He should give the money to Bill Gates who would do a much better job quietly. Peterson has an ego bigger than Donald Trump, except he has the delusion of thinking that he lived by a moral compass. His Tax free foundation will figure out a way to avoid taxes, while he builds his monument

After watching him on the Charlie Rose Show, there is no doubt in my mind that Pete Peterson is a very personable, intelligent, and accomplished individual. Unfortunately, "The Education of an American Dreamer" does not measure up to the man.

Peterson is the first, both on Charlie Rose and in his book, to point out that his life has largely been a random walk through events, each seemingly leading by chance to higher and higher playing fields, while impeding the derivation of "lessons learned." Even lessons learned from his "Blackstone Group" success are wanting - it was accomplished during a decade in which S&P P/Es rose from 15.1 to 33.8, and may not be repeatable; subsequently Blackstone has "tanked" - fallen about 90% since Peterson sold out. (My guess is that his large Rolodex helped considerably.)

Now Peterson, like Buffett (somewhat), Soros, and Gates, has decided that making more money is no longer a priority, and has created a foundation. Peterson's focus is on educating Americans on the economic problems facing this nation. Good for him! Do I think he'll have much success - unfortunately, no - given all the forces that have benefited from getting us into this mess. Regardless, three cheers for Mr. Peterson's having led an honest, selfless, and productive life!

I loved this book! His is the life I've been envisioning for myself (except for the couple of divorces) even before I knew who Pete Peterson was. It is a candid biography and a look at his successes and failures and the role of being at the right place at the right time even when some of the events could be construed as unfortunate. If his life story were to be made into the movie, the movie pitch would probably be "A Super Achieving Forrest Gump". The list of people that he's crossed paths with and befriended from his childhood to now, front seats at major events some of which had changed the course of history is just astonishing. I couldn't beleive that I haven't heard of him, but a quiet life surrounded by friends and family is what I had envisioned for myself as well. My first exposure to him was on Charlie Rose. His sincerity and integrity during his interview came through. [...]

Peter Peterson's fascinating journey from marketing and business to politics, starting up the Blackstone Group to philanthropy will leave you yearning to meet Mr. Peterson in person.

Colin

If you are of Greek descent like myself this book should be required reading! However once you dive into to it and because of today's economic climate this book is spot on and will be a great read for everyone! Especially once you find out that Mr. Peterson was once CEO of Lehman Bros, and was able to save them from a certain collapse 30yrs ago!

I just finished reading this truly inspiring, informative and uplifting book. By reading this book, you will find guidance and gain wisdom from someone else's life.

I stumbled upon this autobiography of Peter George Peterson by sheer dumb luck, as the author likes to say, thanks to the power of the internet to inform. Being the son of Greek immigrants myself, I decided to find out more about this man by ordering his autobiography.

What I ended up discovering was a great man whose life is so fascinating that I was not able to put this book down. Reading it is like taking a trip aboard a remarkable time machine through the 20th century as Mr. Peterson is at every major event of the past century, like a true life Forrest Gump - whether it be the Depression, the development of the atomic bomb, the development of modern marketing, early home videos, Japanese imports, détente with Russia, the American currency and gold standard, ethics in government, the environment, private equity, IPOs, an understanding of the current financial meltdown of the 21 century and even the boom box.

If his life were turned into film as it should be, it would need it to be a mini-series.

In summary, I have found a new hero for our modern age and will definitely pass on this book to my own sons when they are older.

Pete Peterson quite openly shares the journey of his life from his humble beginnings to his presence on the world stage. He shares many of the insights that contributed to his success, his deep concerns about the perils of contining to borrow from our children's futures, and personal and business concerns he has anguished about. A decent man; an uncommon life

The great thing about Peterson's story is that he is not a super politician like a President or a super business innovator like a Buffet or Gates. He accomplished great achievements through hardwork, drive, and a good brain. We can almost learn and mimick what he did and how he did things in order to succeed. His story is a "tangible" lesson that we all can learn and try to follow. He definitely led a colorful and dramatic life. Definitely a great inspiration for all of us.