George Petropoulos came Vahl, Greece, America, like many immigrants had to make a better life for himself and his family. Speak English and have a postgraduate year, carving out a place in this country with hard work and determination. brother George came to America, then George, then other family members came. Most have traveled through Ellis Island, as my father, the land where the streets were paved with gold, or so they thought. Along the way, George changed his last name to Peterson and often told his son as he late Peter changed his name because he did not want people to think he was proud of her heritage. And they were proud Greek family! The hard times that Peter's family lived, as he grew up, is that so many children of Greek immigrants, like myself, can relate to. George worked several jobs before settling in Kearney, Nebraska. We opened a coffee 24 hours and it is a flourishing activity of pure determination and hard work. He married the mother of Peter, Papapavlou Veneto, which came from a prosperous family around Sparta, Greece. The family of my mother from the region, although again, the story rang true for me, the legacy of Peter. When she and George were married, his Café Central was prosperous and marriage in 1924 was the promise of a bright future. George was a typical man 24 / 7 working and Veneto, the obedient wife typical greek. Peter so he wanted to be 100% American, but as in most Greek families, heritage and religion played a big role in his youth and education early upbringing.The an American dreamer is particularly interesting to me that could relate as much to my family origins. Peter Peterson has continued to build a "better" life and then enrolled at MIT Business School, Northwestern. As a young man, he held a place with a large advertising firm based in Chicago. His work ethic quickly led to managerial positions inherited Bell & Howell, where he is credited with creating the box boom. As a Republican, entered politics as an adviser to Richard Nixon's overall international trade and later, Commerce Secretary in the early 70s. Plays an important role in corporate America, holding seats on boards, in cooperation with think tanks and study groups, it was not long before Peterson was in play on Wall Street. Soon became the head of Lehman Brothers and that's where Peterson helped found the private equity firm known as the Blackstone Group and when he left his sales quota is $ 1.85 billion.Living the American dream has not come without struggle and personal problems. Faced brain surgery and has had two divorces. He had his share of enemies and supporters along the route, but now is married to Joan Ganz Cooney, who helped create Sesame Street, and lives his life to public service now octogenarian. He has made many choices in life and wants to move on to others, especially young people, how to deal with financial burden for the youth of America are the legacy. He did contribute much of the net proceeds from Blackstone made to establish the Foundation Peter G. Peterson to help young people of tomorrow. story of Peter Peterson is easy to read, they read like a novel, with its humor and his style is easy. This is a good read to see if you just want a good story of how a man can grow in spite of where they came from, or political and financial support as well as clearly stated in the book. And 'aptly titled A training plan, a dreamer, because he embodies everything that means the title.