Pete Peterson may not be the most well-known businessman or economist in America. His name doesn’t float among the luminaries of the billionaire philanthropist set like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and George Soros. But Peterson is both a billionaire and a philanthropist. The story of how he came to be among the wealthiest individuals in the world is interesting and encouraging.

Peterson was born into a family of Greek immigrants who made their living running a diner in Nebraska, of all places. From those relatively humble beginnings, he went on to a string of successful leadership roles in businesses including Market Facts, McCann Erickson Advertising Agency, Bell & Howell Corporation, and Lehman Brothers.

From the business world, he went on to serve in high level capacities within the government. He was named as an economic advisor to President Richard Nixon in 1971 and soon after became the Secretary of Commerce. He was the first Greek-American to reach the level of serving in the cabinet of the President of the United States of America. In the last forty years, Peterson has served on a number of committees, councils, commissions, and coalitions under both Democratic and Republican presidents, culminating in the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the start of the 21st century.

In 2007, at the age of 81, Pete Peterson became a billionaire when the Blackstone Group, a private equity company he co-founded in 1985, went public. Suddenly finding himself with incredible wealth and significant free time, he set about disposing of his vast fortune. Shortly after he acquired this massive amount of money he gave most of it, roughly one billion dollars, to establish the charitable Peter G. Peterson foundation.

Now Peterson has written a memoir entitled The Education Of An American Dreamer, which is by no means a “get rich quick” book or even a “blueprint for success” book. It chronicles his rise to the lofty rank of billionaire and gives a hearty dose of the values that drove him to success throughout his life. The book also gives the reader an insight into the principles that he holds dear, especially a sense of responsibility that he feels is lacking in modern America.

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