Rating: 4/5 glowing river lights
Author:
Pete Buttigieg
Amazon Link:
referral program on hold :(
Mayor Pete Buttigieg lays out his background and describes his journey through life as a student, soldier, son, husband, and public servant in his first text; Shortest Way Home. The personal stories are varied and integrated with small descriptions of his political philosophy, making that narrative flow naturally as he steps through each stage of his life and arrives at his present position as a candidate for the American presidency. The book was emotional, reasoned, and as down-to-earth as a candidate can be when setting their public record as they see fit. I’d recommend the book to anyone who is interested in Pete Buttigieg as a candidate and wants to know more about his background. His story is authentic and creates enough personal interest to stand on it’s own as an inspection of American culture from the prospective of a young politician at the launch of his national career.
The most refreshing characteristic to see in a modern presidential candidate is some kind of personal modesty regarding their arrival at such an illustrious position. The ability to admit that not all answers are immediately clear, but that the path to a solution is a rational result of transparent consideration of the challenges and options available is something that I appreciated at a time when political ideals are so emotionally charged. Mayor Pete describes his approach to solving problems more than he discusses specific policy solutions. This can perhaps be considered a weakness of his exposition, as a candidate is typically expected to bare his arms and armor regarding policy objectives in his candidate biography. Pete takes a different approach by establishing his identity as a primary objective, adding policy only as needed. I would agree that I was looking for clear policy actions and found myself wondering how valuable character development is to his candidacy, as there is so much of that material to be found. Much like other politicians in the past, Pete Buttigieg aims to set his history to public record with this text, rather than cement his positions on policy. I think the material is thin as it stands, but if he releases future material which is more precise in describing his plans, he could easily fill that void. As it stands, I think this text will be viewed as the character development for Pete and will serve as a part of a wider body of material meant to sway voters and establish his political aims.
I felt the book was interesting but not enough of a declaration of principle to build confidence in Mayor Pete as a candidate. I finished the text with a deep emotional connection to Pete, but without the confidence I need as a voter to be sure that he will drive the change I believe we need to see in our government. I think his candidacy is a statement with respect to American political culture, but he needs more steel in his foundation before he can really build anything more significant. A good start, hopefully Mayor Pete follows this book up with more material that will demonstrate his intentions beyond a simple explanation of his personal character. Although that wouldn’t be bad, it isn’t what I feel we need in a post-Trump candidate.