Pete Buttigieg
Born: January 19, 1982
Birthplace: South Bend, Indiana
Age on Inauguration Day: 39
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: peteforamerica.com
Education: Harvard University (Bachelor’s degree in History and Literature); Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar; Philosophy, Politics, and Economics)
Professions: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy (Reserve)
Public office: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana (2012-present)
Personal: Married husband Chasten Glezman in 2018
Life and career:
- Last name is pronounced BOO'-tah-juhj (he has also used BOOT-edge-edge to describe it)
- Member of U.S. Naval Reserve from 2009 through 2017. He was an intelligence officer specializing in counterterrorism.
- Won election in 2011 to become mayor of South Bend at age 29, making him the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents.
- Launched the “1,000 Homes in 1,000 Days initiative,” which his website says demolished or repaired abandoned homes in South Bend.
- Took a leave of absence as mayor to deploy to Afghanistan in 2014.
- Amid his campaign for a second term as mayor, Buttigieg came out as gay. He went on to win re-election with 80 percent of the vote.
- Unsuccessfully ran for Democratic National Committee Chairman in 2017.
- Could be the first openly gay presidential nominee from a major political party and the first openly gay president.
Sources: Associated Press; WNDU