Pete Buttigieg Says He’s ‘Working on It’ After Call for ‘Better President’ at IOP Forum

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Peter P.M. Buttigieg ’04 appeared to hint at a potential presidential run Monday night during an Institute of Politics forum.

The brief moment came when former Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust pressed the panel on how the country could turn things around.

“How do we get there?” Faust asked. “We need to have a better president.”

Princeton University professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. — another panelist — turned and pointed toward Buttigieg.

Buttigieg smiled. Then, without missing a beat, he answered.

“I’m working on it!” he said, drawing raucous laughter and applause. “I’m working on it!”

He did not elaborate on the remark. But later in the discussion, Buttigieg pointed to his own experience at Harvard, where he successfully ran for IOP president on a bipartisan “unity” ticket with a Republican running mate — an approach he suggested remains one model for bridging political divides.

“That’s one way to do it,” he said, when asked if he would even run for president with a Republican.

“If I’m trying to think about what unity is, one image I would invoke is that of the flag,” Buttigieg added, describing it as a symbol that “very instrumentally brought different kinds of people together.”

The exchange came during a wide-ranging discussion on democracy, political division, and the future of American institutions.

The forum — moderated by History professor Jill Lepore and featuring Buttigieg alongside Faust and Glaude — marked the launch of a Harvard Kennedy School series on American democracy ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Buttigieg, who rose to national prominence during his 2020 presidential campaign and later served as Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration, has remained a prominent Democratic voice on national politics.

Throughout the discussion, Buttigieg described the country as being in a period of institutional strain, pointing to mass layoffs affecting federal workers and broader challenges facing public service.

“It remains worth doing,” he said. “We can make sure that we build up the value of service, even if there’s this season where people who are committed to it are being professionally brutalized by their own leadership.”

He characterized the current moment as a “festival of destruction” directed at American institutions, while suggesting it could also create opportunities for renewal.

“But that could lead to an incredibly creative period where both people who’ve been on the outside looking in and people who’ve been inside working here the whole time have a lot of insight to offer,” he said.

Lepore offered a more pessimistic view, arguing that major political change in U.S. history has often been preceded by violence.

“If we think about the 1850s or the 1960s and think about the scale of political violence that we’re looking at, that is a catalyst for change,” she said. “It is necessary to go through the throes of that violence for change to happen.”

Much of the discussion drew on historical parallels, with Faust and Glaude grounding their remarks in earlier periods of political conflict.

Buttigieg emphasized the role of universities in bridging political and social divides.

“Part of why university is such an important invention is that it creates an opportunity to scramble some of those other circles of belonging,” he said, pointing to intergenerational, geographic, and ideological diversity as ways to foster understanding.

He framed that effort as central to his broader vision for American democracy.

“To me, the idea of this country isn’t just that we’re going to be a democracy — it’s that your everyday life is better because we are,” he said. “And that’s the kind of politics I’m trying to craft.”

—Staff writer Sophia E. Alcacer can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at sophiaalcacer.88. Follow her on X at @sophiaalcacer.

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.