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Nick Adams Dave Erickson Pete Hegseth Biography & Facts

Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American television host and author. Hegseth is an Army National Guard officer and former executive director of political advocacy groups Vets For Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. The latter, a conservative advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers, advocates greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was considered to lead the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the Trump administration, but in January 2017, David Shulkin was selected instead. Hegseth has been active in conservative and Republican politics since his days as an undergraduate at Princeton University. In 2016, he emerged as a strong supporter and ally of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, and served as an occasional advisor to Trump throughout the latter's presidency. He reportedly persuaded Trump to pardon three American soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes related to the shooting of non-combatants in Iraq. Hegseth, who was a platoon leader at Guantanamo Bay during his military service, defended the treatment of inmates detained there. Early life and education Hegseth was born on June 6, 1980, in Forest Lake, Minnesota. He attended Forest Lake Area High School and received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University in 2003. In 2013, he received 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. Military career Following graduation from Princeton in 2003, Hegseth joined Bear Stearns as an equity capital markets analyst and was also commissioned as a reserve infantry officer into the U.S. Army National Guard. In 2004 his unit was called to Guantánamo Bay, where he served as an infantry platoon leader with the Minnesota National Guard. His unit was under the operational control of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Shortly after returning from Cuba, Hegseth volunteered to serve in Baghdad and Samarra, where he held the position of infantry platoon leader and, later in Samarra, as civil–military operations officer. During his time in Iraq, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and a second Army Commendation Medal. He returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul. Hegseth, a major, currently serves in the Individual Ready Reserve. He has been awarded two Bronze Stars for his service overseas. Conservative activism and Senate campaign Upon return from Iraq, Hegseth worked briefly at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. According to his LinkedIn page, Hegseth left the conservative think tank in 2007 to work at Vets For Freedom as executive director. His role included responding to the Federal Election Commission as "treasurer" of the organization. He worked at Vets for Freedom until 2012. The organization advocated a greater troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hegseth formed the political action committee MN PAC in 2012. Hegseth was the executive director for Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers. The group advocated greater privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). According to his LinkedIn page, he left the group in 2015. 2012 U.S. Senate campaign Hegseth ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 2012. He withdrew from the race after the May 2012 convention, before the Republican primary election in August, both events in which Kurt Bills won the nomination. Questioned spending While Hegseth was its chief executive, Concerned Veterans for America hired his brother Philip to work for the non-profit and paid him $108,000 according to tax records from 2016 and 2017. Asked about it, Hegseth's lawyer said that Philip, a May 2015 university graduate, was qualified for the media relations job, and noted there is no prohibition against private entities hiring family members. An APM Reports analysis found that while Hegseth ran the MN PAC political action committee, one third of its $15,000 in funds were spent on Christmas parties for families and friends. Campaign finance laws in Minnesota do not prohibit such spending. Less than half of the PAC's resources was spent on candidates, and as of March 2018, the PAC had closed its account with the state board. Punditry During the 2016 Republican primaries, he initially backed Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz, and ultimately Donald Trump. In the years since, Hegseth has emerged as a strong Trump supporter. As a Fox News personality, he frequently criticized the media and Democrats. He criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Hegseth has appeared on Fox News Channel, as well as on CNN and MSNBC. Fox News Hegseth joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014. In December 2018, Hegseth co-hosted Fox News Channel's All-American New Year with Fox Business Network's Kennedy, during which a pre-recorded telephone interview between him and President Trump was broadcast. He has been a regular guest on Unfiltered with Dan Bongino since 2021. In June 2022 on a "Fox & Friends Weekend" segment Hegseth crossed out Harvard on his diploma writing in "Critical Theory" and then marked "RETURN TO SENDER" across the central body as a protest of Harvard and other such universities. "People will say ‘this is just a stunt, you still have a degree’ and that's fine. I went, I got the degree, I walked to the classes and all that, but I hope this is a statement that as conservatives and patriots, if we love this country, we can't keep sending our kids and elevating them to universities that are poisoning their minds (against America) I may have survived it, but a lot of kids go there and buy into ‘critical theory university,' and that's how we get future leaders, Supreme Court Justices, Senators, others, who see America as an evil place. And Harvard is a factory for that kind of thinking" he said. Hegseth then declared his intention to return the diploma to Harvard. Controversies On June 14, 2015, Hegseth accidentally hit a West Point drummer with an axe while filming a live TV segment in honor of Flag Day. According to the drummer, he sustained "only minor injuries." The New York Daily News reported that in a later segment, the drummer was "seen cheerfully speaking on camera as if the accident never took place." In May 2018, Hegseth mocked The New York Times for ostensibly not covering a story about the capture of five ISIS leaders, referring to the paper as the "failing New York Times" – but The New York Times had already filed a report on the story.... Discover the Nick Adams Dave Erickson Pete Hegseth popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Nick Adams Dave Erickson Pete Hegseth books.