What a Harvard Professor Wrote in His Rhodes Scholarship Recommendation Letter for Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg

In an essay, Harvard professor James T. Kloppenberg provides a snippet of the letter of recommendation he supplied when Pete Buttigieg applied for a Rhodes scholarship:

I admire his talent, his agility, and his devotion to public service. At a time when so many equally capable recent Harvard graduates are off feathering their own nests, Peter is doing the thankless work of political organizing, not because he expects a reward but because he believes it is important. Many would describe his choice as quixotic, but I respect it. Peter unquestionably has the capacity to excel at Oxford and afterwards. He thinks clearly and writes beautifully. Beyond his obvious talent, he has a backbone. It is his strength of character, the depth of his democratic convictions, that will make him a forceful presence in American public life.

Pft, sounds to me like a lot of hot air that could be easily written about any Ivy League student, or state university student, that is politically ambitious at a young age.

-RW