--- title: Pete Hegseth Wanted 'Secretary of War.' His Staff Went With 'Dumb McNamara.' description: "Pentagon staff are calling Pete Hegseth \"Dumb McNamara,\" comparing the defense secretary to the Vietnam-era Pentagon chief whose hawkishness destroyed a presidency." author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-03-28T15:04:08.833Z updated: 2026-03-28T15:04:34.169Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/pete-hegseth-nickname-dumb-mcnamara-pentagon image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/hegseth-pentagon-briefing.webp categories: Politics content_type: News region: United States publication: Sovereign Magazine about: - type: Person name: Pete Hegseth jobTitle: Secretary of Defense --- Pete Hegseth gave himself the title "Secretary of War." The people who actually work for him at the Pentagon have settled on something different: "Dumb McNamara." Current and former US officials told [Zeteo](https://zeteo.com/p/the-thug-of-war) that staffers and officials within the Department of Defense are using the nickname behind Hegseth's back. It is a reference to Robert McNamara, the defense secretary who became the architect of American military escalation in Vietnam. The comparison is pointed. McNamara, for all his catastrophic decisions, maintained a reputation as a brilliant strategist. As Zeteo noted, "it is exceedingly hard to find anyone in the corridors of Washington power, or anywhere on the planet, who would label Hegseth a brilliant mind." The nickname has spread because of what officials describe as Hegseth's cheerleading of the US bombing campaign in Iran and what they see as his "overzealous bloodlust and enthusiasm for military fiasco." On Tuesday, the defense secretary made no effort to dispel the comparison. "We negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said. "You have a choice, as we loiter over the top of Tehran." A day later, he used the Pentagon's first monthly worship service since the start of the Iran war to [pray for "overwhelming violence."](https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseth-prays-for-overwhelming-violence-at-christian-service/) - something Jesus would say, I am sure. ## The nickname he chose vs. the one he got Before his own staff gave him one, Hegseth had been busy picking his own nickname. He began styling himself "Secretary of War" after an executive order authorized "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" as secondary titles for non-statutory communications. No act of Congress has actually renamed the Department of Defense. The bill to make it official has not passed. The legal names remain Secretary of Defense and Department of Defense. It is, for now, a title he gave to himself. As I noted in our coverage of the [Anthropic ruling](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/judge-blocks-pentagon-anthropic-ban), nothing gives off more loser energy than picking your own tough-guy nickname. It turns out the people who work closest with Hegseth agree. They just picked a more accurate one. ## Why McNamara Robert McNamara served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson from 1961 to 1968. He is widely credited with pulling the United States deeper into Vietnam, a conflict that killed between 1.4 million and 3.5 million people. The war became so closely associated with his relentless push for escalation that it earned its own name: "McNamara's War." McNamara is also widely believed to have helped destroy Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Johnson chose not to seek re-election in 1968 as public opposition to Vietnam became insurmountable. Career Pentagon officials making the comparison to Hegseth are not reaching for a random insult. They see the same pattern repeating: a defense secretary who has fallen in love with a war that the public increasingly opposes, attached to an administration the war may ultimately define. ## The polls are moving one way The most recent [Reuters/Ipsos poll](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-approval-rating-falls-36-reutersipsos-poll-2026-03-25/), conducted March 20 to 23 among 1,272 US adults, puts President Trump's job approval at 36 percent. That is down from 40 percent the week before. On the Iran strikes specifically, just 35 percent approve. Sixty-one percent now disapprove. Both numbers moved against the administration in the space of a single week. Meanwhile, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham has been gleefully citing the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the costliest engagements of World War II in the Pacific, as proof that the US will easily take Iran's Kharg Island. Pentagon officials watching that rhetoric alongside the polling data have already drawn their conclusions about where this is heading. ## From Fox & Friends to the Pentagon Hegseth's route to running the Department of Defense ran through Fox News, where he co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend. Before his appointment as defense secretary, he [privately lobbied President Trump to pardon accused war criminals](https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-and-friends-host-pete-hegseth-privately-lobbied-trump-to-pardon-accused-war-criminals/). He picked "Secretary of War" because he thought it projected strength. The people who see him work every day went with "Dumb McNamara." ## FAQ **Q: Does Pete Hegseth have a military title?** Pete Hegseth's official title is Secretary of Defense. An executive order authorized "Secretary of War" and "Department of War" as secondary names for non-statutory communications, but no act of Congress has renamed the position. The bill to make the change official has not passed. Hegseth uses "Secretary of War" publicly, though it remains a self-adopted title rather than a legal designation. **Q: Why are Pentagon staff calling Hegseth 'Dumb McNamara'?** Current and former US officials told Zeteo that Pentagon staffers compare Hegseth to Robert McNamara, the defense secretary who escalated the Vietnam War. The "dumb" qualifier reflects the view that while McNamara maintained a reputation as a brilliant strategist despite his disastrous record, Hegseth is seen as having the same appetite for military escalation without any comparable intellectual credentials. The nickname has reportedly spread through the Pentagon since the start of the Iran war. **Q: What was McNamara's fallacy?** McNamara's fallacy, also called the quantitative fallacy, is the mistake of making decisions based only on data that can be measured while ignoring factors that cannot. It is named after Robert McNamara, who as Secretary of Defense used body counts and other quantifiable metrics to gauge progress in Vietnam while disregarding less measurable realities like local opposition, political legitimacy, and troop morale. The fallacy is now widely studied in business and military strategy as a cautionary example of how data can mislead decision-makers. **Q: How did Pete Hegseth become Secretary of Defense?** President Donald Trump nominated Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense in November 2024. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was confirmed by the Senate in January 2025 after a contentious process. Before his nomination, he had no senior government or military leadership experience. He previously co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend and was known for his commentary on veterans' affairs and military culture. **Q: What military rank was Pete Hegseth?** Pete Hegseth served in the Army National Guard and held the rank of Major. He deployed to Guantanamo Bay in 2004, Iraq in 2005 to 2006 with the 101st Airborne Division, and Afghanistan in 2011 to 2012. He received two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge. His military service was as an infantry officer, not in senior command or strategic planning roles.