Peter Brian Hegseth is an American television presenter, author, and Army veteran who is the current nominee for United States secretary of defense in President Donald Trump's second cabinet. After graduating from Princeton University, Hegseth began his career working as an analyst for Bear Stearns. From 2003 to 2014 and again from 2019 to 2021, he served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Major. He received the Bronze Star while serving in the special operations forces during a combat deployment to Iraq in 2005. In 2014, he voluntarily deployed to Afghanistan to train the Afghan security forces. Following his military service, Hegseth became an active figure in conservative and Republican politics and was the executive director of Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. Since 2014, he has been a political commentator for Fox News and was a weekend co-host of Fox & Friends from 2017 to 2024.