Born in South Bend, Indiana to Jennifer Anne and Joseph A. Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg was born into a typical middle class family. Both of his parents worked as faculty at New Mexico State University and imbued in Buttigieg a desire to learn and perhaps most importantly, a desire to serve.
And Buttigieg did just that. After majoring in history and literature at Harvard (where he graduated magna cum laude), Buttigieg was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, which allowed him to study at Oxford University in England.
After graduating from Oxford, Buttigieg bounced around a lot, becoming an intern at a Chicago news station and an intern at a couple of political campaigns. Still feeling unsatisfied, he joined the military in 2009 and served until 2017, when he resigned his commission.
While serving, Buttigieg was elected for the first time as mayor of South Bend. His time as mayor of South Bend (an office which he was elected to twice) is what Buttigieg discusses the most in his book - particularly the actions and decisions he took while in office.
At its core, this is both a political book and a memoir.
