Buttigieg’s personal story as a gay veteran and Midwestern mayor, his performances in debates and interviews, and his policy platform have all propelled him into a small group of Democratic primary frontrunners in Iowa and New Hampshire, as voters in those states prepare to pick a nominee against President Donald Trump. But the American strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, rippled through the former mayor’s events in the first primary state this weekend, where he sought to reassure voters that he has the experience to handle U.S. foreign policy and the military.

Buttigieg wove his stint as a Navy intelligence officer and criticism of Trump’s “chest-thumping militarism" into his stump speech and returned to his tenure “in the dust of” Afghanistan answering questions at town halls across New Hampshire, as the presidential primary takes a foreign policy turn.
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His military experience has been a long-running campaign theme — nearly all of Buttigieg’s TV ads flash a picture of him in fatigues — but the subject also throws one potential weakness into sharp relief: the brevity of his national security experience, and his generally short resume compared to others in the 2020 presidential field.

“He’s the candidate with the military background who served” abroad, said Kathy Sullivan, a member of the Democratic National Committee from New Hampshire, who likened it to a “double-edged sword” for Buttigieg. “But at the same time, he’s the youngest candidate in the field without a ton of other foreign policy experience,” and a conflict with Iran “could shake up how voters are viewing this primary.”

Buttigieg, for his part, argued to reporters Saturday afternoon that “somebody who has been on the ground as an intelligence officer, understanding what’s at stake in these issues, is bringing the exact kind of bearing we’re going to need,” adding that managing future conflicts around the world requires “a forward-looking view” from the next president.