Pete Buttigieg in Survey of 2020 Presidential campaign websites
On Foreign Policy:
Foreign policy grounded in American interests for 2050s
I often speak of the need for our politics and policies to contemplate the year 2054, the year in which I hope to retire. Thinking about the world three to four decades from now is exactly how we need to compete with countries like
China, because that is how they are thinking, planning, and investing. To cope with enormous change, American foreign policy for the future must be securely grounded in American values, American interests, and American relationships.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Prioritize cyber-threats & extremism, not more submarines
We must also be proactive in confronting armed extremist threats at home. In the past decade more Americans have been killed in America by right-wing extremists than those inspired by al
Qaeda or ISIS, we need to acknowledge this threat too and redirect appropriate resources to combat right-wing extremism and violent white nationalism.
In the coming decades, we are more likely than ever to face insurgencies, asymmetric attacks, and high-tech strikes with cyber weapons or drones. Yet our latest defense budget calls for spending more on 3 Virginia-class submarines--
$10.2 billion--than on cyber defenses. It proposes spending more on a single frigate than on artificial intelligence and machine learning. We need to look not only at how much we're spending on our military but what we're prioritizing.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Security establishment should reflect nation's diversity
A foreign policy that serves our people can best be made by government officials who represent the full diversity of our people. For far too long, our national security establishment has not reflected this diversity. We must work to upgrade our hiring
practices to promote both diversity and excellence. No matter where they come from, our finest minds should find it as attractive and compelling to serve in Foggy Bottom, or USAID or Langley as it is to work on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On Principles & Values:
The world needs America at our best
The world needs America. But not just any America. It has to be America at our best: the America that possessed the forward-looking vision to do things like confront Nazism and rebuild Europe and even invent the Internet inside a research arm of our
Defense Department. It has to be an America that knows how to make better the everyday life of its citizens and of people around the world, knowing how much one has to do with the other.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On War & Peace:
Never send troops without clear definition of their mission
The greatest strategic advantage for America has always been the fact that our country has stood for values shared by humanity, touching aspirations felt far beyond our borders. The lesson of the Iraq disaster is not that there is anything wrong with
standing for American values, but rather that any action in the name of such values must be strategic, legitimate, and constrained by the premise that we only use force when left with no alternative.We should never again send troops into conflict
without a clear definition of their mission and an understanding of what will come after.
I believe we should use force when there is a clear and present threat to the US; when it's necessary to deter and defend against an attack on or imminent
threat against the United States, our citizens at home or abroad, or our treaty allies; and when we act as part of a legitimate international coalition to prevent genocide or other atrocities. But when we must use force, we must also have an end game.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On War & Peace:
Small steps forward in North Korea; no "love letters"
So rather than a zero-sum insistence on full and complete denuclearization before any peace is possible, we can recognize that the two processes can be mutually reinforcing, with small steps leading to bigger ones. You will not see me exchanging love
letters on White House letterhead with a brutal dictator who starves and murders his own people. But you will see my administration work to create the conditions that would make it possible to welcome North Korea into the international community.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, PeteForAmerica.com
Jun 11, 2019
On Homeland Security:
More years of executive & military experience than most
Pete has more years of government experience than the president, more years of executive government experience than the vice president, and more military experience than anybody to walk into the Oval Office since President
George H. W. Bush. Pete served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve and took an unpaid seven-month leave during his mayoral term to deploy to Afghanistan. For his counterterrorism work, he earned the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website PeteForAmerica.com
May 2, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Ensure that America's future is better than its past
Pete belongs to the generation that came of age with school shootings, the generation that provided the majority of the troops in the conflicts after 9/11, the generation that is on the business end of climate change, and the generation that--
unless we take action--stands to be the first to be worse off economically than their parents.Pete is laying out a vision, values, and policies to ensure that America's future is better than its past. We need to secure a future in which every
American has the freedom to live a life of their choosing; where our republic grows more and not less democratic; where racial justice is a reality and not a dream; where we've put an end to endless war;
where we've summoned the national will to meet the challenge of climate change; where everyone has the health care they need; and where everyone has the chance to find purpose and belonging in our economy and our country.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website PeteForAmerica.com
May 2, 2019
On Principles & Values:
We cannot find greatness in the past
There is no 'again' in the real world. WE CANNOT FIND GREATNESS IN THE PAST.There is no honest politics that revolves around the word 'again.' In the era of automation and globalization, major changes are going to happen whether we're ready or not.
The question isn't: "Can we stop these changes and go back to the past?" The question needs to be: "How can we make sure these changes work for us?" America is at its best when we master change for the benefit of every American.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website PeteForAmerica.com
May 2, 2019
On Technology:
As mayor: major investment in data and technology industries
Pete is in his 8th and final year as Mayor of South Bend. Pete was first elected mayor in 2011 at only 29 years old and re-elected in 2015 with 80% of the vote.Under his leadership, South Bend has reimagined its role in the global economy, spurring
job growth & major investment in advanced industries such as data and technology. At the same time, Pete emphasized building a South Bend community where every resident--regardless of race, religion, gender, or orientation--could feel safe and included.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website PeteForAmerica.com
May 2, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021