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The last time an alum was appointed to head the Pentagon, our community was all too happy to sing his praises. The alum, of course, was neocon darling Donald Rumsfeld ’54. Two months after 9/11, Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW) peddled the mythos that Rumsfeld had come to command: a “wrestler, pilot, and organizer extraordinaire,” he would “lead the U.S. defense department into perhaps its toughest fight ever.”
Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Pete Hegseth ’03 to be Secretary of Defense. Hegseth, a combat veteran and Fox News host, is manifestly unfit to lead the U.S. military, often called the world’s most powerful. Hegseth’s threadbare résumé, his decorated service notwithstanding, is least among the mountain of reasons that should disqualify him.
Hegseth is part and parcel of the bone-chilling tide that triumphed at the ballot box last week. He has showered praise on Jan. 6 insurrectionists and lobbed racist insults against the nation’s highest-ranking officer, whom he promises to fire. He has demanded that the Pentagon bar women from combat and declared, “the rules of war are for winners.” During Trump’s first term in office, Hegseth successfully pressed him to pardon U.S. soldiers charged with war crimes.
No wonder Trump has demanded that the Senate forego hearings to vet his cabinet nominees. Hegseth exemplifies the fascistic cabal that will soon control the White House and Congress. It is hard to interpret his outrageous nomination as anything but the keystone in Trump’s drive to compel loyalty from his underlings — and to wield the military against his foes.
Presuming Hegseth glides to the Pentagon’s helm, what will we say about this member of our ranks? If history is any teacher, the answer does not inspire confidence.
Princeton had burnished Rumsfeld’s reputation long before he entered the Pentagon triumphant. I have argued that Nassau Hall tracked Rumsfeld’s rise — and he reciprocated in kind. As Rumsfeld made waves in Washington, Princeton gave him the Woodrow Wilson Award, its highest alumni honor, in 1985.
In his acceptance speech, Rumsfeld likened his start in politics to a Princeton reunion. Princeton dutifully recognized its ascendant son — who, right on cue, extolled the best damn place of all. In 2004, as he stood credibly accused of war crimes and mere weeks after the first photos of torture at Abu Ghraib had leaked, Rumsfeld nevertheless enjoyed a “good reception” at his 50th reunion.
Princeton has likewise figured in Hegseth’s rise. As has been widely reported, Hegseth spent his undergraduate years publishing racist, misogynistic, and homophobic hate in The Princeton Tory. But for one example: he ran a Tory cover in 2002 that superimposed crosshairs over an owl, representing the Organization of Women Leaders (OWL). The table of contents shows the owl crumpled on its side — three bullet holes blown into its head and blood pouring forth.
Such provocations did not dissuade PAW from holding Hegseth in high esteem. In fact, PAW granted Hegseth — who had recently served a tour in Iraq — his own byline in 2006. He used the platform to argue, “contrary to conventional thinking inside the government and the military,” that the U.S. should deploy more troops.
In its Nov. 2007 issue, PAW included Hegseth in a feature about ROTC alumni who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The front cover? A photo of Hegseth, with camouflage and Princeton ballcaps arranged before him and a uniform and beer jacket draped behind. “Pete Hegseth ’03, with reminders of life as a former soldier and alum,” the caption read.
A web exclusive accompanying the issue notes Hegseth “had just completed a year at Guantanamo Bay, doing security patrols.” Hegseth’s stint at the naval base — which houses the illegal torture camp that Rumsfeld helped create — had led him to question his service: “After the boredom of that assignment,” PAW confesses, “he thought he’d never want to put on his uniform again.” With respect to the torture of detainees and denial of due process at Guantanamo, Hegseth has claimed, “we bend over backwards as Americans to provide for the welfare of these radical Islamic terrorists.”
By PAW’s account, news of a suicide bombing in Iraq reignited Hegseth’s desire to serve. “I learned a lot of theory at Princeton,” Hegseth told PAW, apparently in reference to his Politics degree. “[N]one of it matters,” Hegseth cautioned, “if you cannot provide security. Guns and violence have the potential to override any theory, no matter how sound.” Talk about clairvoyance.
In 2018, Hegseth created a “Fox and Friends” segment about the James Madison Program (JMP), the campus hub for right-wing politics. The clip celebrates Robert George, Princeton’s conservative doyen and Hegseth’s former professor.
As the segment closes, Hegseth begins to say, “I’m proud of my—” but stops himself short. Instead of “alma mater,” he pivots: “the James Madison Program. Princeton doesn’t do everything right all the time, but Robby George does a nice job.”
Despite the bonhomie, Hegseth has helped wage the right-wing assault on higher education. In a 2022 broadcast, Hegseth defaced his diploma from Harvard, where he had received an MPP. He crossed out “Harvard” and scrawled “Critical Theory” in its place. For good measure, he marred the parchment with “Return to Sender.”
Hegseth has, notably, declined to give his undergraduate diploma the same treatment. When someone on air advised, “Go grab that Princeton diploma,” Hegseth responded, “Not yet, not yet, not yet.”
Hegseth might still see utility in his alma mater. Does Princeton see the same in him? Will Hegseth get a hero’s welcome come reunions? Will he one day receive the Woodrow Wilson Award?
What is clear is that Hegseth imperils the very existence of our University — and the rule of law. Princeton must have no truck with him.
Jonathan Ort ’21 served as The Daily Princetonian’s 144th Editor-in-Chief. He can be reached at jaort[at]alumni.princeton.edu.
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