When high school yearbooks make the news cycle, it’s usually a sign that a candidate has been hiding something big. Consider, for example, Roy Moore’s signature in the high school yearbook of one of his many underage sexual assault victims.
For “Mayor Pete” of South Bend, Indiana, a high school yearbook that’s making the rounds on major news outlets is exactly the opposite. Pete Buttigieg, according to people from his former high school class at St. Joseph’s High School, was destined for greatness long before he threw his hat in the ring in the 2020 presidential elections.
According to ABC News:
”he moved from appearing in a single photo his freshman year — sporting shaggy hair and large glasses — to showing off a dizzying array of activities in the following years, including the National Honor Society, Junior Leaders and Philosophy Club. He was often pictured wearing a white shirt, tie and no jacket, which has also become his current political uniform.’
you want high-school yearbook photos of Mayor @PeteButtigieg? We've got 'em – "most likely to become president," St. Joseph HS, Class of 2000. https://t.co/kjDKE0jBTx @GarciaReports @mattgutmanABC
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) April 19, 2019
In one of the few instances in which a yearbook section of superlatives actually got it right, Buttigieg was voted “Most Likely to Be the President of the U.S.” by his classmates. Just as he has been during the 2020 election cycle, Buttigieg appears to have been impressive, focused, and driven even as a teenager. He was also voted most likely to succeed and graduated from his Catholic high school as valedictorian of his senior class.
‘Buttigieg is nearly universally known and nearly everyone seems to have a “Mayor Pete” story…Katie Kowals, an intake nurse at the city’s Memorial Hospital, said her brother-in-law knows Buttitgieg well, but added, “He was exactly as he is now.”‘
Yep 19 years before he was a candidate, Pete Buttigieg was voted 'most likely' to be president by his high school classmates – https://t.co/Qm8VDL80yj via @ABC News
— Matt Gutman (@mattgutmanABC) April 19, 2019
He was also presented with the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for an essay he wrote praising the convictions of Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) while in high school. Buttigieg’s impressive resume did not end there, however. After high school, he attended Harvard College, Oxford University, and Harvard University. He’s also a Rhodes scholar.
‘Heâs been busy since being anointed in that high school yearbook superlatives section. He graduated from Harvard University and the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He joined the Navy Reserves and served a tour in Afghanistan. And in the weeks leading up to his official campaign kickoff, he has rocketed from near-total national obscurity to a player in the Democratic field.’
In 2000, an Indiana boy named @PeteButtigieg won the national JFK Profiles in Courage high school essay contest. His subject: A Vermont congressman named @BernieSanders. They are now running against each other for president. https://t.co/DvpnRdvPO5
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) February 26, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
