Pete Hegseth is an American TV host, author, and officer in the Army National Guard. He is known for his conservative views and is reportedly Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense in Trump’s second cabinet. Hegseth has appeared as a political commentator on Fox News and previously led Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
Pete has been involved in Republican politics since his college days at Princeton. He strongly supported Trump’s 2016 campaign and advised him during his presidency. He reportedly encouraged Trump to pardon three U.S. soldiers accused of war crimes in Iraq and has defended the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, where he once served as a platoon leader.
Hegseth was considered for the position of Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Trump’s first term. In November 2024, Trump announced he intends to nominate Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.
Pete Hegseth Biography
Pete Hegseth was born on June 6, 1980, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and he is 44 years old as of 2024. He is a White American and believes in Christianity as his belief. His height is 6 feet.
Pete Hegseth Education
Pete attended Forest Lake Area High School and received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University in 2003. In 2013, he earned a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At Princeton, Hegseth was the publisher of The Princeton Tory, a conservative student-run publication. He also played on the Princeton Tigers men’s basketball team. 1premierespeakers
Pete Hegseth Family
Pete is the son of Brian Hegseth and Penny Hegseth.
Pete Hegseth Wife
Pete Hegseth was married to his first wife, Meredith Schwarz in 2005 but they were separated in 2009. He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2010; they have three children named Boone Hegseth, Gunner Hegseth, and Rex Hegseth.
In August 2017, while still married to Deering, Pete had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he was having an extramarital relationship. His second wife Deering divorced him in August 2017. Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019. 2imdb
Pete Hegseth Career Journey
After graduating, Pete Hegseth worked as an equity analyst at Bear Stearns and joined the U.S. Army National Guard as an infantry officer. In 2004, he was sent to Guantánamo Bay as a platoon leader with the Minnesota National Guard, under the 101st Airborne Division, and received the Army Commendation Medal.
Later, he volunteered for deployments in Baghdad and Samarra, Iraq, and served as both an infantry platoon leader and a civil-military operations officer. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and an additional Army Commendation Medal.
In 2012, Hegseth returned to active duty, deploying to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard, where he served as a counterinsurgency instructor in Kabul. He now holds the rank of major in the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve and has received two Bronze Stars for his service.
Hegseth briefly worked at the Manhattan Institute before becoming executive director of Vets for Freedom in 2007, where he promoted increased troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, he formed MN PAC, a political action committee. MN PAC spent part of its budget on events and family gatherings, which was allowed by state finance laws.
Later, he joined Concerned Veterans for America, a group advocating for Veterans Affairs privatization, funded by the Koch brothers. During his leadership, Hegseth’s brother was hired by the organization for media relations, which Hegseth’s lawyer defended as compliant with hiring rules.
Pete Hegseth became a Fox News contributor in 2014. In December 2018, he co-hosted Fox’s All-American New Year with Kennedy from Fox Business, airing a pre-recorded phone interview he conducted with President Trump. Since 2021, Hegseth has regularly appeared as a guest on Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.
In June 2022, Pete protested against Harvard and similar universities on Fox & Friends Weekend. He crossed out “Harvard” on his diploma, wrote “Critical Theory” over it, and marked “RETURN TO SENDER” in large letters. He explained that, in his view, many universities are teaching students to see America negatively, and he discouraged conservatives from sending their children to institutions he believes promote this perspective. In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate Hegseth to serve as the next Secretary of Defense. 3wikipedia
Pete Hegseth Net Worth
Pete has a net worth of around 17 Million USD as he earns a salary of 5 million USD annually from Fox News. 4caclubindia
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