What do you think?
Rate this book
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
With insight and refreshing candor, Peter G. Peterson describes his remarkable life story beginning in Kearney, Nebraska as an eight-year-old manning the cash register at his father's Greek diner through his "Mad Men" advertising days, to Secretary of Commerce in Nixon's paranoid White House, to the tumultuous days of Lehman Brothers, and to the creation of The Blackstone Group, one of the great financial enterprises in recent times.
In THE EDUCATION OF AN AMERICAN DREAMER, Peterson chronicles the progress of this journey with irony, humor and, sometimes, painful honesty. Within these pages are stories of marriage and family hardship; lessons in political gamesmanship; thoughts on his obsessive desire to succeed; and, finally, learning the meaning of "enough." From his advertising days in Chicago in the 1950's to becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 300 Company, he shares with us his rise to the top and the price paid along the way. As the youngest Cabinet member in the Nixon administration, he describes his survival techniques in a hubris-driven and paranoid White House, including his turbulent turf wars with Treasury Secretary John Connally leading to Peterson's abrupt and highly publicized firing. His stewardship of Lehman Brothers is a Shakespearian tale of a CEO who struggled to deal with partners who were plotting his demise and, at the same time, turning an institution on the brink of bankruptcy to one with 5 straight years of record profits.
His life's story is about doing well by doing good. In the wake of Blackstone's highly successful public offering, Peterson found himself an 80-year old instant billionaire, on the verge of retirement. And like many lifetime workers and over-achievers, he suddenly confronts an unexpected, depressing identity crisis. His solution? Committing a great bulk of his net proceeds to establish the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, his philanthropic endeavor to do something about America's politically untouchable challenges that threaten America's future, among them massive entitlement obligations, ballooning health care costs, and our energy gluttony.
Ultimately, this is a man's account of his legendary successes, humiliating failures, and personal tragedies - a testament to a remarkable life and, indeed, to the American Dream itself.
In THE EDUCATION OF AN AMERICAN DREAMER, Peterson chronicles the progress of this journey with irony, humor and, sometimes, painful honesty. Within these pages are stories of marriage and family hardship; lessons in political gamesmanship; thoughts on his obsessive desire to succeed; and, finally, learning the meaning of "enough." From his advertising days in Chicago in the 1950's to becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 300 Company, he shares with us his rise to the top and the price paid along the way. As the youngest Cabinet member in the Nixon administration, he describes his survival techniques in a hubris-driven and paranoid White House, including his turbulent turf wars with Treasury Secretary John Connally leading to Peterson's abrupt and highly publicized firing. His stewardship of Lehman Brothers is a Shakespearian tale of a CEO who struggled to deal with partners who were plotting his demise and, at the same time, turning an institution on the brink of bankruptcy to one with 5 straight years of record profits.
His life's story is about doing well by doing good. In the wake of Blackstone's highly successful public offering, Peterson found himself an 80-year old instant billionaire, on the verge of retirement. And like many lifetime workers and over-achievers, he suddenly confronts an unexpected, depressing identity crisis. His solution? Committing a great bulk of his net proceeds to establish the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, his philanthropic endeavor to do something about America's politically untouchable challenges that threaten America's future, among them massive entitlement obligations, ballooning health care costs, and our energy gluttony.
Ultimately, this is a man's account of his legendary successes, humiliating failures, and personal tragedies - a testament to a remarkable life and, indeed, to the American Dream itself.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2009
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 10, 2017
"Looking back, many of my opportunities turned out to be a career choice between short-term versus long-term advantage. I have concluded it should always be about the longer term." Peter G. Peterson, The Education of an American Dreamer, Page 356)
This book was great to see some of the inner-workings of Washington and Wall Street. The author was Richard Nixon's United States Secretary of Commerce for less than one year. That is why I found it surprising that he seems to consider himself an expert on foreign policy, foreign economic policy and U.S. fiscal responsibility. He says he is interested in these topics and are his "idea of fun". You do realize and he does indicate in his book that he used these political associations to build his businesses. He says this happened by accident. I don't think so, I think he knew very well that being part of these groups would cause him to gain advantage, meet business contacts and cater to his businesses that he was involved in.
He praises Al Gore and even through he seems to hint at being bi-partition. From reading his book from front to back, I would say he is a liberal at heart.
He became a billionaire by creating a company called Blackstone. As soon as this company went public, he pulled his shares and was an instant billionaire. I think he knew this would happen. Unfortunately, if you had invested in this stock at the initial IPO on July 22, 2007 at $35.06 you would be poorer as the stock today is only worth $31.61. He claims this was all circumstantial in his book, but I don't believe him. He knew when to get out and I think he did this on purpose to get his windfall and retire. Welcome to Wall-street. He has now opened a foundation on U.S. fiscal responsibility. Do you see anything strange here? I do.
My final word to describe him would be: New York Elite.
This book was great to see some of the inner-workings of Washington and Wall Street. The author was Richard Nixon's United States Secretary of Commerce for less than one year. That is why I found it surprising that he seems to consider himself an expert on foreign policy, foreign economic policy and U.S. fiscal responsibility. He says he is interested in these topics and are his "idea of fun". You do realize and he does indicate in his book that he used these political associations to build his businesses. He says this happened by accident. I don't think so, I think he knew very well that being part of these groups would cause him to gain advantage, meet business contacts and cater to his businesses that he was involved in.
He praises Al Gore and even through he seems to hint at being bi-partition. From reading his book from front to back, I would say he is a liberal at heart.
He became a billionaire by creating a company called Blackstone. As soon as this company went public, he pulled his shares and was an instant billionaire. I think he knew this would happen. Unfortunately, if you had invested in this stock at the initial IPO on July 22, 2007 at $35.06 you would be poorer as the stock today is only worth $31.61. He claims this was all circumstantial in his book, but I don't believe him. He knew when to get out and I think he did this on purpose to get his windfall and retire. Welcome to Wall-street. He has now opened a foundation on U.S. fiscal responsibility. Do you see anything strange here? I do.
My final word to describe him would be: New York Elite.
December 30, 2022
Am absolutely incredible, inspiring and informative book which packs a busy life into digestible chapters told in an easy storylike form. Peterson tells his life story with wit and humility while imparting very valuable lessons across a variety of topics. His prescience on economic and social issues and strong guiding values will stay with me for a while. I'm surprised this book isn't more popular as I can safely say it is one of the best books I have ever read.
July 4, 2023
One of the best memoirs I’ve read — the guy lived a very Forrest Gump kind of life.
June 8, 2019
I enjoyed the book thoroughly, the author did great in explaining his long range political views and the important of economic policy paired with foreign policy. He also showed what he did to become successful to a degree but probably just very talented, he cared about people other then himself with a strong emphasis on public service. One takeaway I got from this book is focus on your comparative advantages in your career.
February 17, 2016
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.
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.
May 18, 2021
I have had Mr. Peterson's memoir on my shelf since I bought it in 2009. Why did I finally read it? I finally read it because I wanted to understand first hand the dynamic that immigration researchers conclude about the children of immigrant parents: namely that the first generation of native born children to immigrant parents become economic dynamos.
Mr. Peterson's book amply demonstrates this conclusion. Born in 1926 to parents who arrived at Ellis Island from Greece and settled in Kearney, Nebraska, Mr Peterson goes on to lead a life both in the public and private sectors that is thrilling to read about. I found myself not being able to put his book down because it was so exciting.
But what else have I read lately? I read a line in a recent book that says, "War gives our lives meaning." I wonder what Peter G. Peterson would have thought of that sentence. If I had posed to him that his life represented a long and continuous war, I do not think that he would have agreed with me.
But then again, maybe he would have: Peterson makes a lot of fuss about "doing something" about things, and I think he means getting the politics right. Funny he never ran for elective office. He understood well the difficulties associated with American deficit spending. But Mr. Peterson was not a politician.
Of course, I did not know if Peter G. Peterson was yet living as I read his memoir, and before sitting down to write this note, I checked on line only to find out that he died, at age 91, two years ago.
I remember reading in the book about how Mr. Peterson got a cold stare from Nancy Reagan at a lunch he attended while Ronald Reagan was President. Reagan was a politician. Reagan was also Commander-In-Chief. Of course we have to work on the budget, but we have to do everything else, too. And winning the Cold War? That was a big part of that.
Sometimes I think Peterson's thing about being in therapy illustrated something wrong with him. Who cares about that crap? It does no one any good. Psychiatrists, good ones, reject Freud.
So, what do we have in the end? What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to "Live the American Dream?" Go and rent your apartment: you'll be better off.
In the end: we just want to be middle class folks who live in peace.
Mr. Peterson's book amply demonstrates this conclusion. Born in 1926 to parents who arrived at Ellis Island from Greece and settled in Kearney, Nebraska, Mr Peterson goes on to lead a life both in the public and private sectors that is thrilling to read about. I found myself not being able to put his book down because it was so exciting.
But what else have I read lately? I read a line in a recent book that says, "War gives our lives meaning." I wonder what Peter G. Peterson would have thought of that sentence. If I had posed to him that his life represented a long and continuous war, I do not think that he would have agreed with me.
But then again, maybe he would have: Peterson makes a lot of fuss about "doing something" about things, and I think he means getting the politics right. Funny he never ran for elective office. He understood well the difficulties associated with American deficit spending. But Mr. Peterson was not a politician.
Of course, I did not know if Peter G. Peterson was yet living as I read his memoir, and before sitting down to write this note, I checked on line only to find out that he died, at age 91, two years ago.
I remember reading in the book about how Mr. Peterson got a cold stare from Nancy Reagan at a lunch he attended while Ronald Reagan was President. Reagan was a politician. Reagan was also Commander-In-Chief. Of course we have to work on the budget, but we have to do everything else, too. And winning the Cold War? That was a big part of that.
Sometimes I think Peterson's thing about being in therapy illustrated something wrong with him. Who cares about that crap? It does no one any good. Psychiatrists, good ones, reject Freud.
So, what do we have in the end? What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to "Live the American Dream?" Go and rent your apartment: you'll be better off.
In the end: we just want to be middle class folks who live in peace.
June 22, 2009
A Goodreads Giveaway...
I thought this was an enlightening read although sometimes hard to read with big-wig, political words that required my full undivided attention just to keep up.
Author Peter G. Peterson seems to be a naturally positive person who's drive has seemed to make an impact on hard, scary issues including none other than the economic future of this great country, The United States.
The beginning and last chapters were by far my favorites as I truly felt I was learning something valuable in both the far and immediate future. My thanks to the author for sharing his story to the world as many of us (myself included) are daughters and sons of immigrant parents.
I thought this was an enlightening read although sometimes hard to read with big-wig, political words that required my full undivided attention just to keep up.
Author Peter G. Peterson seems to be a naturally positive person who's drive has seemed to make an impact on hard, scary issues including none other than the economic future of this great country, The United States.
The beginning and last chapters were by far my favorites as I truly felt I was learning something valuable in both the far and immediate future. My thanks to the author for sharing his story to the world as many of us (myself included) are daughters and sons of immigrant parents.
July 3, 2009
I just finished last night (stayed up way past my bedtime). This was a very good book. I am going to re-read it as I tend to swallow books I enjoy whole in the first reading and sometimes miss the finer details. I will give a more in-depth review later. 4 stars is my first impression. A truely inspiring story and an aptly titled book!
November 1, 2009
Thanks Chris.
July 8, 2010
I'm astonished at how much I enjoyed this book. I had to read it for work and now I'm so glad I did.
This is extremely relevant and full of common sense.
This is extremely relevant and full of common sense.
July 29, 2012
This is a great autobiography from Peter Petersen. A good mentor and a very accomplished man.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews