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

New York: Twelve [Hachette Book Group], 2009. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Terry DeRoy Gruber [Jacket photograph]. vii, [1], 375, [1] pages. Illustrations. Signed by the author on the fep. The contents include: Kearney, Leaving Kearney, Chicago, Round One, Lessons in Manufacturing, Chicago, Round Three, A Random Walk Toward Washington; Washington, Round One; Washington, Round Two; Washington, Round Three; Washington round Four (and Out); New York, Round One; New York, Round Two. New York, Round Three; Blackstone: The Beginning; Becoming a Force; My Idea of Fun; and The Future. Also includes Coda::Some Lessons Learned; Acknowledgments, and Index. Peter George Peterson (June 5, 1926 - March 20, 2018) was an American investment banker who served as United States Secretary of Commerce from February 29, 1972, to February 1, 1973, under the Richard Nixon administration. Before serving as Secretary of Commerce, Peterson was also chairman and CEO of Bell & Howell from 1963 to 1971. From 1973 to 1984 he was chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers. Later in 1985, he co-founded the private equity firm The Blackstone Group, and served as chairman. In the same year, Peterson became chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he held until his retirement in 2007 after which he was named chairman emeritus. Pete Peterson has lived the American Dream--and his story is an enduring lesson in the virtues of scholarship, determination, and citizenship. With insight and candor, Peter G. Peterson describes his life story from Kearney to Secretary of Commerce in Nixon's White House, to the days of Lehman Brothers, and to the creation of The Blackstone Group. 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. Derived from a Kirkus review: Sagacious octogenarian and genial plutocrat Peterson recalls his journey from Kearney, Neb., to the White House and Wall Street. During the Depression, the author, then a young scion of hardworking Greek immigrants, tended the cash register in the family restaurant. Soon the bright lad was off to MIT and then to Northwestern's business school. As a young go-getter in a gray flannel suit, he found a natural place in advertising with a prominent Chicago agency. He quickly moved into management at Bell and Howell, where he created the boombox. An open-minded Republican, he entered the world stage as Nixon's adviser on international trade policy and then secretary of commerce in the early '70s. He became a member of corporate boards, study groups and think tanks. Then Wall Street beckoned, and Peterson took charge of Lehman Brothers. He later co-founded the Blackstone Group, leaving it as a billionaire. His life story epitomizes the American Dream, and no wonder, since he freely confesses to "perfectionism and obsessive devotion to work." Of course, Peterson's life wasn't entirely unproblematic, fraught as it was with brain surgery, two divorces and Richard Nixon. He covers all of these, offering frank appreciation of friends and candid assessment of foes. The author remains devoted to family and to public service. Disingenuous candor is not unknown in works like this, but Peterson's memoir is persuasive and lucid.