Pete Hegseth Biography
Peter Brian Hegseth is the U.S. Defense Secretary and former Fox News. He served in the military for nearly 20 years and received several accolades including two Bronze Star Medals.
His nomination was faced with a lot of criticism due to several allegations made against him including; Sexually assaulting a woman at a Republican conference in 2017 and ending up paying her and signing a nondisclosure agreement. His former sister in law also accused him of “abusive” behavior toward his second wife, misuse of money on two veterans’ nonprofit groups and alcohol abuse.
Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defense
Pete is the 29th Secretary of Defense after he was confirmed and sworn in January 24, 2005. The voting was 50-50 as former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats to oppose Hegseth’s nomination. The tie was broken by Vice President JD Vance.
This was the second time in history that a vice president broke a tie for a cabinet nominee. The other time was in 2017 when then vice president Mike Pence broke the tie for Betsy Devos for the confirmation to lead the Education Department.
The last time a defence secretary nominee was voted down was in 1989 when the Senate rejected John Tower, George H.W. Bush’s nominee, due to concerns about his drinking, behaviour towards women, and potential conflicts of interest with defence contractors.
Pete Hegseth Age and Height
Pete is 44 years old, he was born on June 6, 1980 in Forest Lake, Minnesota and stands at a height of 6 feet tall.
Pete Hegseth Education
Pete schooled at Forest Lake Area High School in Forest Lake, Minnesota. He later graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University before attaining his Master of Public Policy degree in 2013 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He worked as a publisher of The Princeton Tory, at Princeton, a student-run publication.
Pete Hegseth Parents
Pete is the son of Brian Lee Hegseth and Penelope Mae Hegseth. His father was a high school basketball coach and his mom is an executive business coach. He is the eldest among his two siblings.
On April 30, 2018, his mother Penelope wrote him an email calling him an abuser of women , “You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.
I am not a saint, far from it.. so don’t throw that in my face,. but your abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out.”
His mother has however disavowed the sentiment expressed in the email and has claimed that after sending that email she sent an immediate follow-up email apologizing. She said the original email was written “in anger, with emotion” at a time when Pete and his wife were going through a very difficult divorce.
In January 2025, she did a phone interview with The New York Times where she defended her son and said her email was not truthful and that Pete is a good father and husband and added that publishing the contents of the first email was “disgusting.”
Pete Hegseth Wife and Affairs
Pete is married to Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, a tv producer known for her work on Fox Files, Poison Ivy, and Heroes of Hamburger Hill. The couple got married in August 2019 at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey. Their relationship began in 2016 as an affair as at the time Pete was married to his second wife Samantha Hegseth. The affair led to the birth of their daughter Gwen in August 2017, a month before his wife Samantha filed for divorce.
Pete married his first wife Meredith Schwarz, his high school sweetheart, in 2004, one year after they both graduated from college. While in college they were voted “most likely to marry.” The couple divorced in 2009 with Meredith citing infidelity. At the time he was having an affair with Samantha Deering searing their first son. In 2012 he wrote an essay acknowledging he had erred by fathering a child “out of wedlock” with Samantha as he claimed he adhered to conservative family values.
In 2010, he married Samantha Deering who was his co-worker at a nonprofit group called Vets for Freedom. The couple divorced in 2017 due to Pete’s affair with Jennifer Rauchet. Pete’s former sister in law, Danielle Hegseth in an affidavit submitted to the senators had claimed that Pete had been abusive to Samantha and that she even feared for her safety. Pete denied the allegation and so did Samantha claiming that there was no physical abuse in the marriage and that she was not willing to speak further about her marriage to Pete.
Pete Hegseth Children
Hegseth is a father to four kids; three sons Gunner Hegseth born on June 13, 2010, Rex Hegseth born in 2016 and Boone Hegseth from his second marriage to Samantha; and a daughter Gwen Hegseth born on August 13, 2017 with his thirs wife Jennifer. He is also a step-father to Jennifer’s three children from her previous marriage.
Pete Hegseth Military Background
Hegseth served in the military from 2003 to 2014. While attending Princeton University, he enlisted in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in May 2001. He got deployment for the first time in 2004 to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base where he served for a year. He returned home for a couple of months before he was again deployed in Iraq for another year. During his time in Iraq, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal twice, a Bronze Star Medal, and several other awards.
After returning, he worked at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research before moving on to lead the Vets For Freedom as the executive director. He also served as the CEO of another veteran advocacy group, the Koch-backed Concerned Veterans for America.
In 2011, he was deployed to Afghanistan for nearly a year. While there, he received another Bronze Star Medal and several other awards. He ended his military service in 2021 alleging that he was labeled an extremist by the D.C. National Guard and prevented from serving during Biden’s inauguration because of his cross tattoo on his chest.
He also speculated in a podcast interview taht he was aske to stand down due to his political views, his role as a journalist covering Jan. 6 or because he works for Fox News.
Pete’s Awards while serving at the military
Two Bronze Star Medals, the Joint Commendation Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB).
Pete’s Political Career
Pete was once a political aspirant shortly after leaving the army, he entered the Republican primary for the Minnesota senate race but withdrew before the primary.
Despite not being in the political arena, Pete had a huge impact politically while serving as an anchor on FOX News. During Trump’s first presidential term, he persuaded him of military decisions. In 2019, he played a role in securing pardons for a former U.S. Army commando set to stand trial in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker, as well as a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two. In addition, he urged Trump to order a promotion for Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a dead Islamic State captive in Iraq.
During President Biden’s tenure, Pete was a frequent critic. He disagreed vehemently with the department’s emphasis on diversity efforts.
Pete Hegseth Tattoo
Pete has several tattoos with most being associated with an expression of religious faith. According to Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, some have been adopted by some far right groups and violent extremists and their meaning depends on context.
He alleged that his cross tattoo on his chest saw him denied the right to serve during President Biden’s inauguration but this was dismissed as a fellow Guard member had raised concerns about a different tattoo. The guard had sent the D.C. Army National Guard’s physical security manager Retired Master Sgt. DeRicko Gaither an email taht included a screenshot of a social media post that included two photos showing several of Hegseth’s tattoos. Gaither researched the tattoos, including one of a Jerusalem Cross and the context of the words “Deus Vult,” Latin for “God wills it,” on his bicep — and determined they had sufficient connection to extremist groups.
Hegseth was accused of Sexual Assault
Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017. In the police report dating back in Oct. 7, 2017, an unidentified woman claimed that she saw Hegseth acting inappropriately with women after he had spoken at a Republican women’s event at a hotel in Monterey and that there had been alcohol served at an after-party. They then had an argument near the pool. She told the police that her next memory was from inside a hotel room before Hegseth allegedly took her phone and prevented her from leaving.
Hegseth alleged raped her and ejaculated on her stomach. She went to the hospital four days later and requested a Sexual Assault Response Team exam. She told the police that she suspected she was drugged due to her limited memory of the night in question.
Hegseth however disputed the allegations and alleged that the sexual encounter was consensual but he alleged that the morning after the woman “showed early signs of regret.” He however paid the woman $50,000 but denied any wrongdoing. His attorney alleged that the payment was to prevent a possible lawsuit.
Pete Hegseth Fox News
Pete served as a co-host of FOX News Channel’s FOX & Friends Weekend. He joined the network as a contributor in 2014.
Pete Hegseth Salary and Net worth.
Pete is expected to earn $246,000 as the Secretary of Defense. While serving as an anchor on Fox News he aerned $4.6M in salary in the past 2 years, nearly $1M in speaking engagements, $1 million in royalties from each of his two books as well as book advances, including $348,000 from “The War on Warriors” and $150,000 from “Battle for the American Mind.”