[Subtitle] In terms of Hegseth confirmation hearing.
Mr. Pete Hegseth(born in 1980) has been nominated on or about November 12, 2024 by President-elect Donald J. Donald Trump(born in 1946) to serve as United States Secretary of Defense in his second cabinet. Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on January 14, 2025 for the confirmation hearing.
Mr. Hegseth was born in Minneapolis in the great State of Minnesota. They say that Hegseth has been active in conservative and Republican politics since his undergraduate days at Princeton University. His senior thesis at Princeton was titled “Modern Presidential Rhetoric and the Cold War Context”.
Hegseth joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the university. He was a national guardsman. He was deployed in Cuba, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He worked as a capital markets analyst at Bear Stearns. He was a political commentator for Fox New, and a weekend co-host of Fox & Friends. He is the author of several books.
The President of the United States is the Commander of the Armed Forces. And the Article II. Section 2. Clause 2. of the United States Constitution says, “and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law”.
It is said that the United States Department of Defense (USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces.
U.S. Department of Defense is, according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia, the second largest employer in the world, with over 1.4 million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees. Its annual budget is said to be about or more than $842 billion in the fiscal year of 2024.
The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the President of the United States. The legal roles and power of the Secretary of Defense are mentioned in the federal law which is the title 10 U.S.C. § 113.
Donald Trump is the President-elect and will be inaugurated as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. And Pete Hegseth has been nominated as United States Secretary of Defense in his second cabinet by the President-elect. On January 14, 2025, Hegseth was at the center of a political row over the confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In this editorial, we present our opinion or views in terms of the standard or criteria for the job of the Secretary of the Department of Defense. We propose or suggest three(3) standards or criteria for the job. They are STRATEGIC INSIGHTS(strategic insights), LEADERSHIP(leadership), and MORAL INTEGRITY(moral integrity).
First, does Hegseth have strategic insights? Strategy is about choices and their focus. Insight is about the ability to understand the true nature of something. Such strategic insights are essential elements which are required to perform the job of the Secretary of Defense because defending the United States is not only extremely important but also hugely difficult, demanding, tough, or challenging.
Second, does Hegseth have such leadership qualities which are required to lead such a huge and important organization? U.S. Department of Defense has astronomical level of financial responsibility and enormous numbers of employees. Anyone cannot lead such a huge and important organization without excellent or outstanding skills of leadership.
Third, does Hegseth have the moral integrity which is indispensable to secure the function of the organization? “Moral” is about concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior. “Integrity” is about the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Anyone cannot lead such an huge and important organization without such a indispensable qualities because the Secretary of Defense should secure such voluntary and sincere followship towards his or her leadership both within and from the organization.
We present, suggest, or propose these three(3) key elements for the inevitable factors which are indispensable or essential for performing the job of United States Secretary of Defense.
It is up to the Senate whether Hegseth should serve for the job or not.
The Editorial of the American Newspaper.
www.americannewspaper.org
Published: January 14, 2025, Tuesday (01/14/2025) at 8:53P.M.(pm).