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Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the
United States secretary of transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...
. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, which earned him the nickname "Mayor Pete". Buttigieg is a graduate of
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
and the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, attending the latter on a
Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
. From 2009 to 2017, he was an
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way ...
in the
United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
, attaining the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. He was mobilized and deployed to the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
for seven months in 2014. Before being elected as mayor of South Bend in 2011, Buttigieg worked on the
political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
s of Democrats
Jill Long Thompson Jill Lynette Long Thompson (born July 15, 1952) is an American politician, educator, and author. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she is the author of ''The Character of American Democracy, ''published by Indiana University Press in Septembe ...
,
Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy S ...
, and
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
, and ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for
Indiana state treasurer The Indiana Treasurer of State is a constitutional and elected office in the executive branch of the government of Indiana. The treasurer is responsible for managing the finances of the U.S. state of Indiana. The position was filled by appointment ...
in 2010. While serving as South Bend's mayor, Buttigieg
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as gay in 2015. He married
Chasten Glezman Chasten James Glezman Buttigieg ( ; born June 23, 1989) is an American teacher, writer, and LGBTQ rights advocate. He is married to Pete Buttigieg, the current U.S. secretary of transportation. He was an advisor, spokesperson, and social media ...
, a schoolteacher and writer, in June 2018. Buttigieg declined to seek a third term as mayor. Buttigieg ran as a candidate for president in the
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Un ...
, launching his campaign for the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...
on April 14, 2019. He became one of the first openly gay men to launch a major party presidential campaign. Despite initially low expectations, he gained significant momentum in mid-2019 when he participated in several
town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...
s and television debates. Buttigieg narrowly won the
Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballot ...
and placed a close second in the
New Hampshire primary The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest (the first being the Iowa caucuses) held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choos ...
. By winning Iowa, he became the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential primary or caucus. Buttigieg dropped out of the race on March 1, 2020, and endorsed Joe Biden the following day. President-elect Biden named Buttigieg as his nominee for Secretary of Transportation in December 2020. His nomination was confirmed on February 2, 2021, by a vote of 86–13, making him the first openly gay Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Nominated at age 38, he is also the youngest Cabinet member in the
Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
and the youngest person ever to serve as Secretary of Transportation.


Early life and career

Pete Buttigieg, the only child of Jennifer Anne (Montgomery) and
Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II Joseph Anthony Buttigieg II (May 20, 1947 – January 27, 2019) was a Maltese-American literary scholar and translator. He served as William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame until his retirement in 2017, when he ...
, was born on January 19, 1982, in
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
. His mother uses the name Anne Montgomery. His parents met and married while employed as faculty at
New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...
. His father was born in Hamrun, Malta, and emigrated to the United States to pursue his doctorate. Buttigieg's father embarked on a career as a professor of English at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
near South Bend. Buttigieg's mother also taught at the University of Notre Dame for 29 years. His father was a translator and editor of the three-volume English edition of Marxist philosopher
Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a fo ...
's '' Prison Notebooks'' and influenced his pursuit of literature in college.


Education

Buttigieg was valedictorian of the class of 2000 at St.Joseph High School in South Bend. That year, he won first prize in the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighb ...
's ''Profiles in Courage'' essay contest. He traveled to Boston to accept the award and met
Caroline Kennedy Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, attorney, and diplomat serving in the Biden administration as the United States Ambassador to Australia since 2022. She previously served in the Obama administration as th ...
and other members of President Kennedy's family. The subject of his winning essay was the integrity and political courage of then U.S. representative
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
of
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
, one of only two
independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...
s in Congress. In 2000, Buttigieg was also chosen as one of two student delegates from Indiana to the United States Senate Youth Program, an annual scholarship competition sponsored jointly by the U.S. Senate and the Hearst Foundations. After graduating from St. Joseph High School, Buttigieg attended
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, where he majored in history and literature. He became president of the Student Advisory Committee of the
Harvard Institute of Politics The Institute of Politics (IOP) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, as well as to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politi ...
and worked on the institute's annual study of youth attitudes on politics. He wrote his undergraduate thesis, titled ''The Quiet American's Errand into the Wilderness'', on the influence of
Puritanism The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
on U.S. foreign policy as reflected in
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's novel '' The Quiet American''. He graduated ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from Harvard in 2004, and was elected a member of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. Buttigieg was awarded a
Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to study at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. In 2007, he received a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree with
first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
in philosophy, politics, and economics after studying at
Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named aft ...
. At Oxford, he was an editor of the ''Oxford International Review'', and was a co-founder and member of the Democratic Renaissance Project, an informal debate and discussion group of approximately a dozen Oxford students.


Professional career

Before graduating from college, Buttigieg was an investigative intern at
WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (c ...
, Chicago's
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
affiliate. He also interned for Democrat
Jill Long Thompson Jill Lynette Long Thompson (born July 15, 1952) is an American politician, educator, and author. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she is the author of ''The Character of American Democracy, ''published by Indiana University Press in Septembe ...
during her unsuccessful 2002 congressional bid. After college, Buttigieg worked on
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
's 2004 presidential campaign as a policy and research specialist for several months in
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
and
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
. From 2004 to 2005, Buttigieg was conference director of the Cohen Group. In 2006, he lent assistance to
Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy S ...
's successful congressional campaign. After earning his Oxford degree, in 2007 Buttigieg became a consultant at the Chicago office of
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
, where he worked on energy, retail, economic development, and logistics for three years. His clients at McKinsey included the
health insurer Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among m ...
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, electronics retailer
Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
, Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws, two nonprofit environmentalist groups, the
Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States-based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bo ...
and Energy Foundation, and several U.S. government agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Department, Defense Department, and
Postal Service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
. He took a leave of absence from McKinsey in 2008 to become research director for Jill Long Thompson's unsuccessful campaign for Indiana governor. His work at McKinsey included trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, which he rarely discusses. Buttigieg left McKinsey in 2010 in order to focus full-time on his campaign for Indiana state treasurer. Buttigieg has been involved with the
Truman National Security Project The Truman National Security Project is a United States Democratic Party-aligned national security and leadership development organization based in Washington, D.C. It serves to organize center-left to progressive Americans on issues of national ...
since 2005 and serves as a fellow with expertise in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was named to the organization's board of advisors in 2014.


Military service

Buttigieg joined the
U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
through the direct commission officer (DCO) program and was sworn in as an
ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in naval intelligence in September 2009. He took a seven-month leave during his mayoral term to deploy to Afghanistan in 2014. While there, Buttigieg was part of a unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks. Part of this was done at
Bagram Air Base Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea le ...
, but he was also an armed driver for his commander on more than 100 trips into
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
. Buttigieg has jokingly referred to his role as an armed driver as "military
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...
", because he had to watch out for ambushes and explosive devices along the roads and ensure that the vehicle was guarded. Also, while deployed in Afghanistan, Buttigieg was assigned to the
Afghan Threat Finance Cell The Afghan Threat Finance Cell was a multi-agency intelligence organization in Afghanistan. The organization was created in 2008. The United States' Drug Enforcement Administration was the lead agency in the organization. The co-deputy agencies ...
, a counterterrorism unit that targeted
Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban of ...
financing. Buttigieg was awarded the
Joint Service Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...
, and he left the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2017.


Indiana state treasurer election

Buttigieg was the Democratic nominee for state treasurer of Indiana in 2010. He received 37.5 percent of the vote, losing to
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
incumbent
Richard Mourdock Richard Earl Mourdock (born October 8, 1951) is an American politician who served as treasurer of the state of Indiana from 2007 to 2014. Running with the support of the Tea Party movement, he defeated six-term incumbent U.S. Senator Richard Lu ...
. Much of Buttigieg's campaign had focused on criticizing Mourdock for investing state
pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
funds in
Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...
junk bonds In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events ...
, and for having subsequently filed a lawsuit against Chrysler's bankruptcy restructuring, which Buttigieg argued imperiled Chrysler jobs in the state of Indiana.


Mayor of South Bend


First term

Shortly after losing the 2010 Indiana State Treasurer election, Buttigieg ran for the Democratic nomination for mayor of South Bend in 2011. In a PBS Michiana – WNIT broadcast, he expressed his desire to reinvigorate South Bend, especially with respect to job creation and education. Buttigieg campaigned on other issues, such as pursuing international investment, increasing presence of police and other safety professionals, and improving city services. Buttigieg won his primary election against four opponents on May 3, 2011, receiving 7,663 votes. Buttigieg was elected mayor of South Bend in the November 2011 general election with 10,991 of the 14,883 votes cast, or 74 percent of all votes. He defeated Republican nominee Norris W. Curry Jr. and
Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
nominee Patrick M. Farrell. Buttigieg took office in January 2012 at the age of 29, becoming the second-youngest mayor in South Bend history and the youngest incumbent mayor, at the time, of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents. Before Buttigieg took office, Jiha'd Vasquez, a 16-year-old black boy, was found hanging from an electrical tower on April 14, 2011. Vasquez's backpack, on the ground near his body, had several items missing, according to Vasquez's mother Stephanie Jones. The coroner, Chuck Hurley, who had no medical experience, claimed Vasquez's death was a suicide; Buttigieg later appointed Hurley to serve as interim police chief. Vasquez's body was cremated without an autopsy being conducted. Jones attempted to get Buttigieg to investigate her son's death, but he did not, fearing "potential political risks." According to Jones, Buttigieg told her to call his office, but she never got a response. Jones and South Bend
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...
legal redress chairman Tom Bush claimed the event was a
cover-up A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own misdeeds) from relational co ...
, with Bush saying he suspected the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
may be involved and hoped for a federal investigation, but did not expect it, saying "the only reason this will get done is if you’re on a microphone yelling and screaming." When Buttigieg's presidential campaign was asked about the incident by a reporter in 2019, they did not give a response. In 2019, Jones and St.Joseph County coroner Mike McGann argued that the case should be reopened; however, sheriff William Redman said he would not consider reopening the case unless further evidence came to light. After a federal investigation ruled that South Bend police had illegally recorded telephone calls of several officers, Buttigieg demoted police chief Darryl Boykins in 2012. Buttigieg also dismissed the department's communications director, who had discovered the recordings but continued to record the line at Boykins's command. The police communications director alleged that the recordings captured four senior police officers making racist remarks and discussing illegal acts. Buttigieg has written that his "first serious mistake as mayor" came shortly after taking office in 2012, when he decided to ask for Boykins's resignation. Backed by supporters and legal counsel, Boykins requested reinstatement. When Buttigieg denied his request, Boykins, as the city's first African-American police chief, sued the city for racial discrimination, arguing that the taping policy had existed under previous police chiefs, who were white. Buttigieg settled the lawsuits brought by Boykins and the four officers out of court for over $800,000. A federal judge ruled in 2015 that Boykins's recordings violated the Federal Wiretap Act. Buttigieg came under pressure from political opponents to release the eight tapes, but he said that it was not possible to release seven of them, citing the Federal Wiretap Act. It was unclear if releasing the eighth tape would violate any laws. St. Joseph County Superior Court Judge Steve Hostetler heard a case for the release of five cassette tapes. Judge Hostetler ruled that the cassette tapes must be released to the South Bend City Council in May 2021. As mayor, Buttigieg promoted a number of development and redevelopment projects. Buttigieg was a leading figure behind the creation of a nightly laser-light display along downtown South Bend's St.Joseph River trail as public art. The project cost $700,000, which was raised from private funds. The "River Lights" installation was unveiled in May 2015 as part of the city's 150th anniversary celebrations. He also oversaw the city's launching of a
3-1-1 3-1-1 is a special telephone number supported in many communities in Canada and the United States. The number provides access to non-emergency municipal services. The number format follows the N11 code for a group of short, special-purpose loca ...
system in 2013. Buttigieg's administration oversaw the sale of numerous city-owned properties. One of Buttigieg's signature programs was the "Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative". Known locally as ''1,000 Properties in 1,000 Days'', it was a project to repair or demolish blighted properties across South Bend. The program reached its goal two months before its scheduled end date in November 2015. By the thousandth day of the program, before Buttigieg's first term ended, nearly 40 percent of the targeted houses were repaired, and 679 were demolished or under contract for demolition. Buttigieg took note of the fact that many homes within communities of color were the ones demolished, leading to early distrust between the city and these communities. While mayor, Buttigieg served for seven months in Afghanistan as a lieutenant in the
U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
, returning to the United States on September 23, 2014. In his absence, Deputy Mayor Mark Neal, South Bend's city
comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...
, served as executive from February 2014 until Buttigieg returned to his role as mayor in October 2014. In 2015, during the controversy over Indiana Senate Bill 101the original version of which was widely criticized for allowing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peopleButtigieg emerged as a leading opponent of the legislation. Amid his reelection campaign, he
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and expressed his solidarity with the LGBTQ community.


Second term

Buttigieg announced in 2014 that he would seek a second term in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
. He won the Democratic primary with approximately 78 percent of the vote, defeating Henry Davis Jr., the city councilman from the second district. In November 2015, he was elected to his second term as mayor with over 80 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Kelly Jones by a margin of 8,515 to 2,074 votes. After winning reelection, Buttigieg signed an executive order helping to establish a recognized city identification card in 2016. To improve South Bend's downtown area, Buttigieg proposed a Smart Streets urban development program in 2013. In early 2015after traffic studies and public hearingshe secured a
bond issue In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder ( creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of the bond at the maturity date as well as ...
for the program backed by
tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...
. Smart Streets was a
complete streets Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities regardless of ...
implementation program aimed at improving economic development and urban vibrancy as well as road safety. Elements of the project were finished in 2016, and was officially completed in 2017. The project was credited with spurring private development in the city. In a new phase of the Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative, South Bend partnered with the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center to provide free legal assistance to qualifying applicants wishing to acquire vacant lots and, with local nonprofits, to repair or construct homes and provide low-income home ownership assistance using South Bend
Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
funds. The City of South Bend partnered with the State of Indiana and private developers to break ground on a $165million renovation of the former
Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
complex in 2016, hoping that the redevelopment would facilitate industrial and housing units. This development is in the Renaissance District, which includes nearby Ignition Park. In 2017, it was announced that the long-abandoned Studebaker Building84, also known as ''Ivy Tower'', would have its exterior renovated with $3.5million in Regional Cities funds from the State of Indiana and another $3.5million from South Bend tax increment financing, with plans for the building and other structures in its complex to serve as a technology hub. The website ''Best Cities'' later ranked South Bend number 39 on its 2020 list of the 100 best small cities in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, citing Buttigieg's efforts to revitalize the Studebaker factory and Downtown South Bend. Under Buttigieg, the city also began a smart sewer program, the first phase of which was finished in 2017 at a cost of $150million. The effort used federal funds and by 2019 had reduced the combined sewer overflow by 75 percent. The impetus for the effort was a fine that the EPA had levied against the city in 2011 for
Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
violations. In 2019, Buttigieg asked for the city to be released from an agreement with the EPA brokered under his mayoral predecessor Steve Luecke, in which South Bend had agreed to make hundreds of millions dollars in further improvements to its sewer system by 2031. The Common Council approved Buttigieg's request to enable his administration to develop a city climate plan in April 2019; Buttigieg signed a contract with the Chicago firm Delta Institute to help develop it. In late November 2019, the city's Common Council voted 7–0 to approve the resultant Carbon Neutral 2050 plan, setting the goal of meeting the Paris Agreement's 26 percent emission reduction by 2025, and aiming for a further reductions of 45 percent by 2035. Supporting private development in South Bend was another initiative Buttigieg continued during his second term. By 2019, the city had seen $374million in private investment for
mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to ...
s since Buttigieg had taken office, by one estimate. By another account, Downtown South Bend saw roughly $200million in private investment during Buttigieg's tenure. With respect to infrastructure, Buttigieg promoted the idea of moving the city's South Shore Line station from South Bend International Airport to the city's downtown in August 2018. He made it a goal to have the city complete this project by 2025. Also, South Bend launched Commuters Trust, a new transportation benefit program created in collaboration with local employers and transportation providers, including South Bend Transpo and
Lyft Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dyn ...
, in 2019. The program was made possible by a $1million three-year grant from
Bloomberg Philanthropies Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environmen ...
Mayors Challenge. Furthermore, under Buttigieg, South Bend invested $50million in the city's parks, many of which had been neglected during the preceding decades. After a white South Bend police officer shot and killed Eric Logan, an African-American man, in June 2019, Buttigieg was drawn from his presidential campaign to focus on the emerging public reaction. Police body cameras were not turned on during Logan's death. Soon after Logan's death, Buttigieg presided over a town hall meeting attended by disaffected activists from the African-American community as well as relatives of the deceased man. The local police union accused Buttigieg of making decisions for political gain. Buttigieg secured $180,000 in November 2019 to commission a review of South Bend's police department policies and practices, to be conducted by Chicago-based consulting firm 21CP Solutions. Many African-Americans have accused Buttigieg of racism for his response to this and other incidents. Former South Bend councilman Henry Davis Jr. alleged that Buttigieg "perpetuated and tolerated" systemic racism in the city. Michael Harriot, senior writer at
The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...
, accused Buttigieg of "racist paternalism" for saying that children of color lack role models that promote the value of education. Many African-Americans also point to Buttigieg's firing of
Darryl Boykins Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell. Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel. Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darelle ...
, South Bend's first black chief of police. Boykins claimed that Buttigieg used a scandal—involving secret tapes of white police officers making racist comments—as a pretext for firing him.


Increased national profile

In the 2016 U.S. Senate election in Indiana, he campaigned on behalf of Democratic Senate nominee
Evan Bayh Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh ...
and criticized Bayh's opponent,
Todd Young Todd Christopher Young (born August 24, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Indiana, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Young previously served as the U.S. re ...
, for having voiced support in 2010 for retaining the military's
don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decembe ...
policy, which Bayh had voted to repeal. In the
2016 Democratic presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...
, Buttigieg endorsed
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. He also endorsed Democratic nominee Lynn Coleman in that year's election for Indiana's 2nd congressional district, which included South Bend. Frank Bruni of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' published a 2016 column praising Buttigieg's work as mayor, with a headline asking if he might be "the first gay president".
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
cited him as one of the Democratic Party's talents in a November 2016 profile on the outgoing president conducted by ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''. As Buttigieg's national profile grew following his run in the
2017 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election The 2017 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election was held on February 25, 2017, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta to determine the next chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). It was the first contested D ...
, Buttigieg increased his out-of-city travel. By early 2018, there was speculation that Buttigieg would run for either governor or president in 2020. For the 2018 midterms, Buttigieg founded the political action committee (PAC)
Hitting Home PAC Hitting Home PAC was a 527 organization founded by Pete Buttigieg in 2017. Buttigieg launched the PAC in June 2017, several months after his failed bid for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship in its 2017 election. Hitting Home PAC ...
. That October, Buttigieg personally endorsed 21 congressional candidates. He also later endorsed Mel Hall, Democratic nominee in the 2018 election for Indiana's 2nd congressional district. Buttigieg campaigned for Joe Donnelly's reelection campaign in the United States Senate election in Indiana. Buttigieg campaigned for candidates in more than a dozen states, including early presidential primary states such as
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
and
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, a move indicating potential interest in running for president. He officially announced his run on January 23, 2019.


Succession as mayor

Buttigieg announced that he would not seek a third term as mayor of South Bend in December 2018. Buttigieg endorsed James Mueller in the
2019 South Bend mayoral election The 2019 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 2019, to determine the next mayor of South Bend, Indiana. On December 17, 2018, incumbent two-term Democratic mayor Pete Buttigieg announced that he would not seek reelect ...
. Mueller was a high-school classmate of Buttigieg's and his mayoral chief of staff, and later executive director of the South Bend Department of Community Investment. Mueller's campaign promised to continue the progress that had been made under Buttigieg's mayoralty. Buttigieg appeared in campaign advertisements for Mueller and donated to Mueller's campaign. Mueller won the May 2019 Democratic primary with 37 percent of the vote in a crowded field. In the November 2019 general election, Mueller defeated Republican nominee Sean M. Haas with 63 percent of the vote. Mueller took office on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...
2020.


DNC chairmanship campaign

In January 2017, Buttigieg announced his candidacy for chairman of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...
(DNC) in its 2017 chairmanship election. He built a national profile as an emerging
dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...
in the race for the chairmanship with the backing of former DNC chairman
Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
, former
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
governor
Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...
, Indiana senator
Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy S ...
, and
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
senator
Heidi Heitkamp Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, she was the first wom ...
. Buttigieg campaigned on the need for the Democratic Party to empower its
millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...
members. Former
U.S. Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...
Tom Perez Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee from February 2017 until January 2021. Perez was previously Assistant Attorney General for Civil Right ...
and U.S. representative
Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...
quickly emerged as the favored candidates of a majority of DNC members. Buttigieg withdrew from the race on the day of the election without endorsing a candidate, and Perez was elected chairman after two rounds of voting.


2020 presidential campaign

On January 23, 2019, Buttigieg announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
in the upcoming 2020 election. Buttigieg sought the Democratic Party nomination for president. If he had been elected, he would have been the youngest and first openly gay American president. Amid the start of Buttigieg's presidential effort, on February 12, 2019, he published his debut book,
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
''
Shortest Way Home ''Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future'' is an autobiography by Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012 to 2020. The book was first published by Liveright Publishing in 2019. On July 8, 2 ...
''. Two months later, Buttigieg officially launched his campaign on April 14, 2019, in South Bend. Buttigieg described himself as a progressive and a supporter of democratic capitalism. Historian David Mislin identifies Buttigieg as a pragmatic progressive in the tradition of the
Social Gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...
movement once strong in the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
. Buttigieg identifies
regulatory capture In politics, regulatory capture (also agency capture and client politics) is a form of corruption of authority that occurs when a political entity, policymaker, or regulator is co-opted to serve the commercial, ideological, or political interests ...
as a significant problem in American society. Initially regarded as a long-shot candidate, Buttigieg rose into the top-tier of candidates in the primary by December 2019. In early February 2020, Buttigieg led the
2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses The 2020 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, the first nominating contest in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, took place on February 3, 2020. Pete Buttigieg received the most state delegate equivalents (SD ...
results with 26.2 percent to
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
' 26.1 percent, winning 14 delegates to Sanders's 12. The
LGBTQ Victory Fund The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT, LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Vict ...
, Buttigieg's first national endorsement, noted the historical first of an openly gay candidate winning a state presidential primary. Buttigieg finished second behind Sanders in the
New Hampshire primary The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest (the first being the Iowa caucuses) held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choos ...
. After placing a fourth in the
South Carolina primary The South Carolina presidential primary is an open primary election which has become one of several key early-state presidential primaries in the process of the Democratic and Republican Parties choosing their respective general election nominees ...
with 8.2 percent of the vote, behind Joe Biden (48.7 percent), Bernie Sanders (19.8 percent), and
Tom Steyer Thomas Fahr Steyer (born June 27, 1957) is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is the co-founder and co-chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, founder and ...
(11.3 percent), Buttigieg dropped out of the race on March 1, 2020, and endorsed Biden.Epstein, Reid J. and Gabriel, Trip
Pete Buttigieg Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race
''The New York Times'', March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.


Post-presidential campaign

In April 2020, Buttigieg launched Win The Era PAC, a new super PAC to raise money and distribute it to down-ballot Democrats. The PAC focused on local elected positions, and its list of endorsements included candidates such as
Jaime Harrison Jaime R. Harrison (; born February 5, 1976) is an American attorney and politician who is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He previously served as the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 2013 to 2017. Harrison uns ...
,
Cal Cunningham James Calvin "Cal" Cunningham III (born August 6, 1973) is an American lawyer, politician, and retired military officer. A member of the Democratic Party and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve, he served one term as a North ...
,
Gina Ortiz Jones Gina Maria Ortiz Jones (born February 1, 1981) is an American intelligence officer and politician. She was confirmed as President Biden's Under Secretary of the Air Force by the Senate on July 22, 2021. The 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas' ...
,
Christine Hunschofsky Christine Hunschofsky is an American politician from the state of Florida. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she has been a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 2020, after serving as the mayor of Parkland, Florida, P ...
, and
Levar Stoney Levar Marcus Stoney (born March 20, 1981) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 80th mayor of Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016, the youngest membe ...
. On June 8, 2020, the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
announced that it had hired Buttigieg as a teacher and researcher for the 2020–21 academic year. Also, in October 2020, Buttigieg released his second book, '' Trust: America's Best Chance''. Buttigieg acted as a surrogate for Biden's campaign in the general election. He delivered a speech on the closing night of the
2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
, and also announced Indiana's votes during the convention's roll call. On September 5, 2020, Buttigieg was announced to be a member of the advisory council of the Biden-Harris Transition Team, which was planning the
presidential transition of Joe Biden The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
. Ahead of the vice presidential debate, Buttigieg played the role as a stand-in for Republican vice president
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
in Democratic to prepare vice presidential nominee
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
. Buttigieg was selected to perform this role because of his experience working with Pence during their simultaneous tenures as mayor of South Bend and
governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state governmen ...
, respectively.


Secretary of Transportation

Following the end of his presidential campaign, Buttigieg was considered a possible Cabinet appointee in Joe Biden's administration. After Biden was declared the winner of the election on November 7, 2020, Buttigieg was again mentioned as a possible nominee for
Secretary of Veterans Affairs The United States secretary of veterans affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits, health care, and national veterans' memorials and cemeteries. The secretary is a me ...
,
Ambassador to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...
, Ambassador to China or
Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...
. On December 15, 2020, Biden announced that he would nominate Buttigieg as his Secretary of Transportation. The
Senate Commerce Committee The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...
advanced Buttigieg's nomination to the full Senate with a vote of 21–3. Buttigieg was confirmed on February 2, 2021, with a vote of 86–13; and was sworn in the next morning. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg has worked on re-organizing the department's internal policy structure, including carrying out a thorough review process of rules enacted under the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
. For example, Buttigieg reinstated an
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
-era pilot program which ensures local hiring for
public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
projects on May 19, 2021, with the goal of helping minorities and disadvantaged individuals. This program had been revoked in 2017 during the Trump administration, when the Department of Transportation returned to rules established during the
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
administration, which banned geographic-based hiring preferences. Buttigieg addressed the African American Mayors Association in late February 2021 to discuss systemic racism. He argued that misguided investments in the federal transport and infrastructure policy had contributed to racial inequity. In early March 2021, ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' noted that Buttigieg had mentioned racial equity in almost every interview he gave to the press as it related to his work at the department. In late June 2022, Buttigieg launched a $1 billion Reconnecting Communities pilot program to establish racial equity in roads. Using money from the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...
, the program aims to reconnect cities and neighborhoods divided by roads through projects such as rapid bus lines, pedestrian walkways, and planning studies. Early into his tenure, Buttigieg noted that the United States's actions surrounding
road traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
is lacking and suggested improving the design of roads. Also, while acknowledging how the United States fell behind other
developed countries A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
with respect to bicycle and pedestrian safety, Buttigieg encouraged greater focus on human behavior in infrastructure policy. Likewise, in March 2021, Buttigieg indicated he was open to tolls on
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...
, but not the tollage of bridges, suggesting "big picture solutions" instead, like a mileage tax. However, the Biden administration did not include a gas tax or mileage tax in the infrastructure plan it released that month. Buttigieg informed Congress in late March 2021 that the Biden administration was planning to prioritize the construction of the Gateway Rail Tunnel Project due to its economic significance. The progress of the project, which was stalled by
President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, was said to be moving faster, according to New York
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, an ...
. Buttigieg announced the
environmental impact assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
of the project—which was largely seen as a sign of major progress on the project. Also, Buttigieg has served as a promoter of the
American Jobs Plan The Build Back Better Plan or Build Back Better agenda was a legislative framework proposed by U.S. president Joe Biden between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, and even after it was reduced in size, it became the ...
and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In June 2021, the White House created a task force to address supply chain disruptions, with Buttigieg as one of its leaders. By October 2021, global supply bottlenecks had resulted in record shortages of household goods for American consumers. Buttigieg cited high demand and the pandemic as some of the causes for the disruptions, while predicting that the disruptions would "continue into next year". After conservatives criticized Buttigieg for taking
paternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
, Buttigieg declared that he would not apologize for "taking care of my premature newborn infant twins. The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work." According to his department, Buttigieg had been on paid leave since mid-August 2021, where for a month he was "mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated", and he "has been ramping up activities since then", making many media appearances in early October 2021. The White House had approved Buttigieg's leave. After passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,
Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
called Buttigieg "the most powerful transportation secretary ever", as the department now has $210 billion of discretionary grants to award.


Political positions


Infrastructure

During his 2020 campaign for the Democratic nomination, Buttigieg proposed spending $1trillion on U.S. infrastructure projects over the next ten years, estimating that the plan would create at least six million jobs. The plan focused on
green energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...
, protecting tap water from lead, fixing roads and bridges, improving public transportation, repairing schools, guaranteeing broadband internet access, and preparing communities for floods and other natural disasters.


Social issues

Buttigieg supports
abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
and the repeal of the
Hyde Amendment In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in ...
, which blocks federal funding for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother is in danger. He favors amending civil rights legislation, including the Federal Equality Act so that LGBT Americans receive federal non-discrimination protections. Buttigieg supports expanding opportunities for
national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...
, including a voluntary year of national service for those turning 18 years old. In July 2019, Buttigieg shared his "Douglass Plan", named after
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
, to address systemic racism in America. The initiative would allocate $10billion to
African-American entrepreneurship In the US, Black-owned businesses (or Black businesses), also known as African American businesses, originated in the days of slavery before 1865. Emancipation and civil rights permitted businessmen to operate inside the American legal structure ...
over five years, grant $25billion to historically black colleges, legalize marijuana, expunge drug convictions, halve the federal prison population, and propose a federal New Voting Rights Act designed to increase voting access. Buttigieg supports abolishing the death penalty, moving toward reversing criminal sentences for minor drug-related offenses, and eliminating incarceration for drug possession offenses. In 2019, Buttigieg called for the United States to decriminalize mental illness and addiction via initiatives such as
re-entry Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...
programs. Also, he aspired to decrease incarceration rates because of mental illnesses or substance use by 75 percent during his first term as President of the United States.


Voting rights

Buttigieg favors the abolition of the Electoral College and has also called for restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences.


Campaign finance reform

Buttigieg supports a constitutional amendment on campaign finance to reduce the undue influence of money in politics. During his 2020 presidential run, in response to accusation of campaign finance concerns, Buttigieg's campaign told ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' that he did not accept contributions from individuals and organizations such as corporate political action committees. In addition, Buttigieg's campaign emphasized that Buttigieg had included critical campaign finance reforms as part of his campaign platform, including pushing to overturn '' Citizens United'' and ''
Buckley v. Valeo ''Buckley v. Valeo'', 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as provided by section 608 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, limits on election expenditur ...
''.


Statehood advocacy

Buttigieg supports
statehood for the District of Columbia The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complete ...
, and said that he would support Puerto Rico statehood if desired by the
Puerto Rican people Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
.


Climate change

During his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Buttigieg stated that, if elected, he would restore the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
' commitment to the
Paris Climate Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ...
and double its pledge to the
Green Climate Fund The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established within the framework of the UNFCCC as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism to assist developing countries in Adaptation to global warming, adaptation and Climate change mitigation, miti ...
. He also supports the
Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic re ...
proposed by House Democrats,
solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
subsidies, and a carbon tax and dividend policy to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...
.


Economic beliefs

Buttigieg identifies as a democratic capitalist and has decried
crony capitalism Crony capitalism, sometimes called cronyism, is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of free enterprise, but rather as a return on money amassed through collusion between a business class and the political class. This i ...
. He has entertained the possibility of antitrust actions against large technology companies on the basis of privacy and data security concerns. During the Democratic primary, he supported deficit and debt reduction, arguing that large debt makes it harder to invest in infrastructure, health and safety.


Workers' rights

In July 2019, he released a plan to strengthen union bargaining power, to raise the
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...
to $15, and to offer national paid family leave.


Education

Buttigieg's education plan includes a $700billion investment in universal full-day child care and pre-kindergarten for all children from infancy to age five. Buttigieg has also proposed tripling
Title I The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1965. Part of Johnson's "War on Poverty", the act has been one of the most far-rea ...
funding for schools serving students predominately from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Other goals include doubling the amount of new teachers of color in the next 10 years, addressing school segregation with a $500million fund, paying teachers more, expanding mental health services in schools, and creating more after-school programs and summer learning opportunities. His plan for debt-free college has called for expanding Pell Grants for low-income students, as well as other investments and reversing Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy. Under Buttigieg's college plan, the bottom 80 percent of students with respect to income would have received free education, while the top 20 percent would have paid for at least some portion of their tuition. Buttigieg has opposed free college tuition for all students because he has believed universally free tuition unfairly subsidizes higher-income families at the expense of lower-income individuals who do not attend college. This position distinguished Buttigieg from his competitors in the 2020 presidential election.


Foreign policy

Buttigieg called for modifying the structure of defense spending, while suggesting that he might favor an overall increase in defense spending. Buttigieg has said that he believes the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
was justified but supported the planned withdrawal of American troops from the region with a maintained intelligence presence. He is a committed supporter of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,Omri Nahmias
Pete Buttigieg: U.S. support for Israel is not support for annexation
''Jerusalem Post'' (October 29, 2019).
favors a
two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...
to the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...
, opposes proposals for Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, and disapproves of Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
's comments in support of applying Israeli law in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In 2008, Buttigieg wrote an op-ed in ''The New York Times'' calling on the United States to support the ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' independent
Republic of Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''List of states with limited recognition, de facto'' sovereign s ...
. In June 2019, Buttigieg said: "We will remain open to working with a regime like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the benefit of the American people. But we can no longer sell out our deepest values for the sake of fossil fuel access and lucrative business deals." He supports ending U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Buttigieg has condemned China for its mass detention of ethnic Uyghurs in
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
. He criticized Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, which critics say gave
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
the green light to launch its
military offensive An offensive is a military operation that seeks through an aggressive projection of armed forces to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational, or tactical goal. Another term for an offensive often used b ...
against Syrian Kurds.


Health care

Buttigieg opposed Republican efforts to repeal the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. In 2018, Buttigieg said he favored
Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...
. During his presidential campaign, Buttigieg has promoted ''Medicare for All Who Want It'', which includes a
public option The public health insurance option, also known as the public insurance option or the public option, is a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the United ...
for health insurance.Transcript: Night 2 of the first Democratic debate
(June 28, 2019).
He has spoken favorably of Maryland's
all-payer rate setting All-payer rate setting is a price setting mechanism in which all third parties pay the same price for services at a given hospital. It can be used to increase the market power of payers (such as private and/or public insurance companies) versus pro ...
. Buttigieg has described Medicare for All Who Want It as inclusive, more efficient than the current system, and a possible precursor or "glide path" to
single-payer health insurance Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...
. He also favors a partial expansion of Medicare that would allow Americans ages 50 to 64 to buy into Medicare, and supports proposed legislation, the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, that would "create a fund to guarantee up to 12 weeks of partial income for workers to care for newborn children or family members with serious illnesses."Kevin Uhrmacher, Kevin Schaul, Paulina Firozi and Jeff Stein
Where 2020 Democrats stand on Health Care
''The Washington Post'' (last updated December 11, 2019).
In August 2019, Buttigieg released a $300billion plan to expand mental health care services and fight addiction.


Immigration

Buttigieg supports
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
(DACA) and has drawn attention to the Trump administration's aggressive deportation policies. He defended a resident of
Granger, Indiana Granger is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clay and Harris townships, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 30,465 at the 2010 census. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and the South Bend Community School ...
, who was deported after living in the U.S. for 17 years despite regularly checking in with ICE and applying for a green card. Buttigieg has said Trump has been reckless in sending American troops to the southern border, and that it is a measure of last resort.


Personal life

Buttigieg is a Christian, and he has said his faith has had a strong influence in his life. He was baptized in the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
as an infant and he attended Catholic schools. While at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, Buttigieg began to attend Christ Church Cathedral and said he felt "more-or-less
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
" by the time he returned to South Bend. St.Augustine, James Martin, and
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
are among his religious influences. A member of the Episcopal Church, Buttigieg is a congregant at the Cathedral of St.James in downtown South Bend. Besides his native
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
, Buttigieg has some knowledge of
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
,
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, Maltese,
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
Dari Persian Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī  ...
, and
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. Buttigieg plays guitar and piano, and in 2013 performed with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra as a guest piano soloist with
Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was ...
. Buttigieg was a 2014
Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...
Rodel Fellow. Buttigieg came out as gay in a June 2015 piece in the ''
South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper ...
'', becoming Indiana's first openly gay elected executive. He was the first elected official in Indiana to come out while in office and the highest elected official in Indiana to come out. Buttigieg announced his engagement to
Chasten Glezman Chasten James Glezman Buttigieg ( ; born June 23, 1989) is an American teacher, writer, and LGBTQ rights advocate. He is married to Pete Buttigieg, the current U.S. secretary of transportation. He was an advisor, spokesperson, and social media ...
, a junior high school teacher, in a December 14, 2017
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
post. They had been dating since August 2015 after meeting on the dating app
Hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation: all other ...
. They were married on June 16, 2018, in a private ceremony at the Cathedral of St.James. This made Buttigieg the first mayor of South Bend to get married while in office. Chasten uses his husband's surname, Buttigieg. Buttigieg announced that he and his husband had become parents on August 17, 2021. Buttigieg announced that they had adopted two newborn
fraternal twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
on September 4, 2021. In July 2022, Buttigieg established his permanent residence in
Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population wa ...
, which is Chasten's hometown, and registered to vote in Michigan.


Awards and honors

Buttigieg was a 2015 recipient of the Fenn Award, given by the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neigh ...
in recognition of his work as mayor. To mark the 50th anniversary of the
Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of ...
in June 2019, ''
Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...
'' named him one of its "Pride50" people—"trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the l ...
people". At the Golden Heart Awards, run by God's Love We Deliver, Buttigieg was awarded the "Golden Heart Award for Outstanding Leadership and Public Service" in October 2019.
Equality California Equality California or EQCA is a non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in California. It is the largest statewide LGBT organization in the United States and the largest member of the Equality Federat ...
, an LGBT-rights organization, gave Buttigieg and his husband Chasten their Equality Trailblazer Award in August 2020. ''
Attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a propo ...
'', a British gay lifestyle magazine, named Buttigieg their 2020 Person of the Year to recognize his groundbreaking run for the presidency.


Books

* *


Electoral history


See also

* List of Rhodes Scholars


Notes


References


External links


Biography
at the
United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buttigieg, Pete * 1982 births 21st-century American Episcopalians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American naval officers 21st-century American politicians Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford American intelligence analysts American LGBT military personnel American Rhodes Scholars 21st-century American memoirists American people of Maltese descent Biden administration cabinet members Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Gay military personnel Gay politicians American gay writers Harvard College alumni Indiana Democrats LGBT Anglicans LGBT appointed officials in the United States LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT memoirists LGBT people from Indiana Living people Mayors of South Bend, Indiana McKinsey & Company people Michigan Democrats Military personnel from Indiana People from Traverse City, Michigan United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Navy reservists United States Secretaries of Transportation University of Notre Dame faculty Writers from South Bend, Indiana