Pete Hegseth’s Path to the Pentagon: An Unconventional Rise to Defense Secretary

Secretary Of Defense

Part of a the Trump’s Circle Series

Early Life and Education

Peter Brian Hegseth was born on June 6, 1980, in Minneapolis and raised in the small community of Forest Lake, Minnesota (Pete Hegseth Facts for Kids). His father, Brian, was a public school teacher and head basketball coach, and his mother, Penelope “Penny” Hegseth, helped anchor a family of Norwegian heritage in the suburban Midwest (Forest Lake native Pete Hegseth faces scrutiny, support as Trump pick). An athletic and driven student, Hegseth excelled in academics – graduating as valedictorian of Forest Lake High School’s class of 1999 – and earned admission to Princeton University.

At Princeton, Hegseth studied politics and plunged into campus debates. He wrote for The Princeton Tory, the Ivy League school’s conservative student newspaper, eventually serving as its publisher (Pete Hegseth | Defense Secretary, Military Career, Tattoos, Book, & Wife | Britannica). In that role he courted controversy, publishing polemical piec…