Pete Buttigieg

Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg (English: Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg, /ˈbuːtəˌdʒɛdʒ/; January 19, 1982 -) is an American Democratic politician who served as the 19th U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. His husband is a high school teacher. In December 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration; on February 2 of the following year, the Senate approved Buttigieg's appointment through a voting confirmation process, and he officially took office later, becoming the first cabinet chief in U.S. history to openly identify as an LGBTQ person. Buttigieg graduated from Harvard University and Oxford University, where he received a Rhodes Scholarship. In 2007, he began working at the management consulting firm McKinsey for three years. From 2009 to 2017, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve with the rank of lieutenant. In 2014, he was drafted and deployed to Afghanistan for seven months to fight in the war. Before being elected mayor of South Bend in 2011, Buttigieg participated in Democratic candidate campaigns and ran as a Democratic candidate for Indiana Treasurer in 2010, but ultimately lost. Buttigieg publicly came out as gay in 2015 while serving as mayor of South Bend. He married teacher and author Chasten Glatzman in June 2018. Buttigieg declined to seek a third term as mayor. Buttigieg participated in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and officially launched his campaign on April 14, 2019. He became the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate. Despite low initial expectations, he gained significant support after participating in multiple town hall meetings and televised debates in mid-2019. Buttigieg narrowly won the Iowa caucuses and placed second in the New Hampshire primary. With his victory in 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 announced his support for Joe Biden the next day. In December 2020, President-elect Biden nominated Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation. On February 2, 2021, his nomination was confirmed with 86 votes in favor and 13 votes against, making him the first openly gay cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Buttigieg was 38 when he was nominated