Pete Buttigieg Knihy

A mayor's inspirational story of a Midwest city that has become a blueprint for American renewal. Once called "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of," Pete Buttigieg, the thirty-seven-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has emerged as one of America's most visionary politicians. With soaring prose celebrating a resurgent Midwest, the narrative details the transformation of a "dying city" into a model of urban reinvention. Elected at twenty-nine as the nation's youngest mayor, Buttigieg recognized that "great cities, and even great nations, are built through attention to the everyday." The challenges were daunting, from confronting gun violence and renaming a street in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. to attracting tech companies to a city previously appealing only to junk bond scavengers. His audacious campaign to reclaim 1,000 abandoned houses in 1,000 days exemplified his commitment. While serving as a Navy officer in Afghanistan, Buttigieg faced personal challenges, coming out in a South Bend Tribune editorial just before being reelected with 78 percent of the vote. He also found love with Chasten Glezman, a middle-school teacher. Amid Washington's scandals, this narrative, rich in humor and grace, challenges perceptions of the typical American politician, offering a new vision for a revitalized Rust Belt city.

Pete Buttigieg demonstrates how a breakdown of trust has been central to our nation's current predicament-and how our future depends on finding ways to restore confidence in the American project, and in each other.