And, of course, he was a Rhodes scholar, meaning he won the prestigious academic award to do post-graduate work at Oxford University.
“A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, ‘Mayor Pete’ combines intellectual firepower with a folksy manner that elicits chuckles and cheers over even the driest topics,” read an August report in the Christian Science Monitor that succinctly summed up much of Buttigieg’s appeal.
But Buttigieg, of course, isn’t the only brainy person in the race. In fact, he isn’t even the only Rhodes scholar.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is too, but you might not know it from reading campaign stories this year.
HuffPost searched mentions in U.S. publications for 2019, finding that news outlets cited Buttigieg’s Rhodes scholarship 596 times.
Booker had just 79 mentions.
“Cory is a former college football player, Rhodes Scholar, tenants rights lawyer, New Jersey city councilman, Mayor of Newark and now Senator of New Jersey. These qualifications too often get overlooked for why he would be qualified to be President,” said Booker spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.