Donald Trump names Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense: Career, family, education, net worth

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed television host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. In his announcement, the President-elect described Hegseth as “tough, smart, and a true believer in America First.” Trump believes that the appointment puts “America’s enemies on notice.”

As a reminder, during the first Trump adminstration, a total of seven individuals served as Secretary of Defense, though five only did so on an acting basis.

Pete Hegseth and his Ivy League roots

Pete Hegseth is an Army Combat Veteran serving in critical locations such as Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. While in Guantamo, he worked as a prison guard; following his military service, he transitioned into the news media arena, where he has made a name for himself as a prominent host on FOX News over the past eight years. A native of Forest Lake, Minnesota, Hegseth left his home state to pursue higher education at the prestigious Princeton University. He graduated in 2003 and furthered his studies in public policy at Harvard University, enriching his understanding of governance and leadership.

Throughout his academic career, Hegseth demonstrated a strong conservative political philosophy, exemplified by his role as the publisher of “The Princeton Tory,” a right-leaning student publication that fostered conservative discourse on campus. After completing his studies, he returned to the United States with aspirations of entering politics. He launched a campaign for the Senate seat in Minnesota; however, he ultimately withdrew when he realized the race was unlikely to favor his candidacy.

He has been married three times, most recently to Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he shares one child. Together with his second wife, Samantha Deering he had three children.

Hegseth encouraged President Trump to pardon soldiers accused of war crimes

In 2014, Hegseth embarked on his media journey by joining FOX News as a contributor, quickly becoming a familiar face across various programs and earning a reputation for his articulate commentary on conservative issues and starting a few controversies. In 2019, Hegseth was a strong and public proponent of President Trump pardoning a group of military members who were going to be tried for war crimes. Reports then circulated that Hegseth, who had used his platform at Fox News to advocate for the pardons, had also done so in person. When President Trump was asked about the cases, which involved the murder of civilians and detainees, Trump said that some of the soldiers were being “treated very unfairly” and explained that many had “fought hard and long.” The victims, whose lives were tragically lost, were nothing more than an afterthought, but Donald Trump doesn’t see anything wrong with appointing a person who does not take war crimes seriously to run the Defense Department.