Pete Hegseth, whom the administration calls secretary of war, delivers remarks during an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., on Tuesday. Photo by PO2 Aiko Bongolan/U.S. Navy | License Photo
Oct. 1 (UPI) -- While Pete Hegseth prefers the title of secretary of war, he really needs to be the secretary of defense in protecting and defending the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
This is a crucial piece of advice that, were he still alive, U.S. Sen. John McCain would have rendered. In fairness, Hegseth is one of the least qualified and inexperienced officials to hold that office since its formal establishment in 1949. That is not meant as an insult.
Hegseth, however, is very bright. He was first in his high school class and garnered top grades at Princeton. He should employ that intellect in being secretary. But as a close friend of mine has recognized, Hegseth seems to be acting more like a junior Army officer leading a squad or a platoon than a defense secretary.
He jogs with the troops, challenging them to meet the pull-ups and push-ups he and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have set as a standard. He extols the troops to be warriors, stressing the need for lethality in battle. That is all fine. But it is not being secretarial.
