Written by Alix Moreland
Normally the Secretary of Transportation doesn’t get a lot of media attention, but Pete Buttigieg seems to be quite the exception. He went from being a face in the crowd to a household name when he ran for the office of the President as a democratic candidate in the 2020 election. Though he didn’t win, he did become one of the most popular faces of the Democratic Party. Known as ‘Mayor Pete’ throughout his campaign for President, he now holds a seat in President Biden’s Cabinet as the Secretary of Transportation.
Secretary Buttigieg was the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012 to 2020, being the 32nd mayor of the city. He also served as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014; he served as a lieutenant for 7 months before returning to the U.S. in late September of that year.
Buttigieg was sworn in on February 3, 2021 by Vice President Kamala Harris, and made history as the youngest Secretary of Transportation at just 39 years of age. That wasn’t the only reason that moment made history however -- he also became the first openly gay
cabinet member to win Senate confirmation. Buttigieg said he could “...feel the history swirling…” when Harris swore him in with his husband at his side.
‘Mayor Pete’ in his current position employs over 55,000 people and has jurisdiction over anything from highways to waterways and railroads. He oversees 13 different agencies which include the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Highway Traffic safety administration.
In an effort to move our transportation network beyond individual cars, as Mayor, he added bicycle lanes and widened walking paths. In his own city he started to fight climate change and now, as Secretary of Transportation, he can bring that vision to the entire country.
According to an article written in January of 2020, when Secretary Buttigieg was still a presidential candidate, he released a climate plan. While running for president, he laid out an enterprising and ambitious plan that would lead to zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, which also includes many steps. By 2035, he believes there will be a zero emissions electricity system as well as zero emissions passenger vehicles; he says the same can happen for heavy duty vehicles (including buses, trains, ships, and aircrafts) by 2040.
Although Buttigieg didn’t win the presidential election, it’s pretty clear that President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg share a common vision of how to move our country forward in a way that will help the economy. Implementing Biden’s “build back better” initiative
through the department of transportation will create jobs because of the infrastructure investment, simultaneously stimulating our economy and meeting our climate change goals.
You can tell Buttigieg is excited about this opportunity, and expresses this by stating, “[t]he great thing about public service is that you have an opportunity to deliver,” he said. “If you do a good job, nobody cares how old you are, nobody cares if you're gay, nobody cares about anything in your life so much as you're making their lives better”. We can all take a lesson from Secretary Buttigieg, and learn to help others no matter who they are, and they won’t care who you are, just that they are grateful for you being there.
For more information on Secretary Pete Buttigieg, feel free to take a look at the various articles, as well as a short podcast and video listed below.
*Disclaimer: This article does not reflect the views of The Paw Print journalism club or Greenwood School District.*
Secretary Buttigieg Being Sworn In (Video)
“Buttigieg Confirmed as Transportation Secretary” (Article)
“Pete Buttigieg Confirmed As Biden's Transportation Secretary” (Podcast)
“Buttigieg could 'feel the history swirling' when Kamala Harris swore him in” (Article)
United States Secretary of Transportation (Wikipedia overview of the position)
“Pete Buttigieg on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands” (Article)
“Buttigieg: After COVID-19 Relief, an Infrastructure Policy” (Article)
“Philly hopes to benefit from Pete Buttigieg’s goal of sharing the road” (Article)