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WORLD WAR III Title: "Pete Hegseth Is a Disruptive Choice for Secretary of Defense. That’s a Good Thing" President Trump announced his nomination of Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense this evening, rounding out a strong stable of national-security professionals including Elise Stefanik at the United Nations, Representative Mike Waltz to be national security adviser, and former intelligence chief and congressman John Ratcliffe to be CIA director. Pete is an unconventional pick. He has spent his last few years as one of the co-hosts of Fox & Friends. As we speak, newsrooms across the country are preparing snide commentary that will highlight his time at the network rather than his time in uniform. That is a mistake. Pete is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard and a combat veteran. Despite his Ivy League pedigree (the Ivies commission a pathetic number of military officers and for years banned ROTC), Pete saw the 9/11 attacks and responded by volunteering for the infantry. Anyone who knows him understands the guy has a deep and abiding love for America and her military, in particular the young men and women with steel in their hands and sand under their boots who put themselves in harm’s way in defense of the Constitution. The secretary of defense role is a political appointment, and it is political in nature. To be successful is to understand politics and all the strange little levers and pulleys and gears that make Washington spin. He understands politics and has keen political instincts. At 44, Pete will no doubt be accused of being too young for the role. But plenty of Americans have served well in the prime of their careers. One of our most effective service secretaries in history, John F. Lehman Jr., was only 38 when he was sworn in as secretary of the Navy under President Reagan. He went on to outfox much of the Pentagon bureaucracy who opposed him and is rightly lauded for being the architect of the 600-ship Navy. There is a rot in the Pentagon that is deeply entrenched. It requires an unconventional pick, youthful energy, and a keen understanding of Congress and Washington to refocus itself back to the national defense of the United States. The times are perilous, and our national-security establishment needs a jolt to its system. I think Pete can be that jolt. You will hear no shortage of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the next weeks and months about this nomination. The confirmation hearing will be a battle royal, but I’ve staffed hundreds of those hearings. He’s up to the task. And I think he’ll surprise a lot of people in Washington in the process. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
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