U.S. Secretaries of Defense Since 1947

Qualifications and Advice & Consent Votes in the Senate tell a frightening tale of our current situation.

Draw your own conclusions as to whether or not we are being led by the best and the brightest. But I think this is clear, the lives of our military personnel are not in competent hands. Hesgeth is the least qualified person ever to hold this office.

The office was created by the National Security Act of 1947. Each entry lists tenure and a one-line note on the appointee’s principal qualifications.

1. James Forrestal (1947–49) — First SecDef; prior Secretary of the Navy and Wall Street investment banker.
2. Louis A. Johnson (1949–50) — WWI Army officer, former Assistant Secretary of War, and prominent attorney.
3. George C. Marshall (1950–51) — Five-star General of the Army, WWII Army Chief of Staff, and former Secretary of State.
4. Robert A. Lovett (1951–53) — Former Deputy SecDef and Assistant Secretary of War for Air; investment banker.
5. Charles E. Wilson (1953–57) — Former president of General Motors (“Engine Charlie”).
6. Neil H. McElroy (1957–59) — Former president of Procter & Gamble; oversaw the creation of DARPA.
7. Thomas S. Gates Jr. (1959–61) — Former Secretary of the Navy and investment banker.
8. Robert McNamara (1961–68) — Former Ford Motor Company president; WWII statistical-control officer.
9. Clark Clifford (1968–69) — Prominent Washington lawyer and longtime presidential adviser.
10. Melvin Laird (1969–73) — Veteran Wisconsin Congressman on the House defense appropriations subcommittee.
11. Elliot Richardson (1973) — Former HEW Secretary and Attorney General; decorated WWII combat veteran.
12. James Schlesinger (1973–75) — Economist; former CIA Director and Atomic Energy Commission chairman.
13. Donald Rumsfeld (1975–77) — Former Congressman, NATO ambassador, and White House Chief of Staff; Navy aviator.
14. Harold Brown (1977–81) — Nuclear physicist; former Air Force Secretary and Caltech president.
15. Caspar Weinberger (1981–87) — Former OMB Director and HEW Secretary; WWII Army veteran and attorney.
16. Frank Carlucci (1987–89) — Career diplomat; former Deputy CIA Director and National Security Advisor.
17. Dick Cheney (1989–93) — Former White House Chief of Staff and Wyoming Congressman.
18. Les Aspin (1993–94) — Longtime Congressman and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; defense economist.
19. William Perry (1994–97) — Mathematician and defense technologist; former Under Secretary of Defense for research.
20. William Cohen (1997–2001) — Former Republican Senator from Maine and Armed Services Committee member.
21. Donald Rumsfeld (2001–06) — Returned for a second tenure (see entry 13).
22. Robert Gates (2006–11) — Career intelligence officer and former CIA Director; uniquely retained across administrations.
23. Leon Panetta (2011–13) — Former CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff, OMB Director, and Congressman.
24. Chuck Hagel (2013–15) — Former Republican Senator from Nebraska; decorated Vietnam War veteran.
25. Ashton Carter (2015–17) — Physicist; former Deputy SecDef and weapons-acquisition chief.
26. James Mattis (2017–19) — Retired four-star Marine Corps general and former CENTCOM commander.
27. Mark Esper (2019–20) — Former Secretary of the Army; Gulf War veteran and defense-industry executive.
28. Lloyd Austin (2021–25) — Retired four-star Army general and former CENTCOM commander; first Black SecDef.
29. Pete Hegseth (2025–present) — Former Fox News host and Army National Guard officer; Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran.

A recurring pattern: appointees cluster into corporate executives, career national-security insiders, legislators, and retired senior generals.

A quick pattern worth noting: the qualifications cluster into a few archetypes—corporate executives (Wilson, McElroy, McNamara), career national-security insiders (Lovett, Carlucci, Gates, Carter), legislators (Laird, Cohen, Hagel), and retired senior generals (Marshall, Mattis, Austin). Hegseth, confirmed by a 51–50 vote with Vice President Vance breaking the tie, is among the least conventionally credentialed for the role compared with his predecessors.

Here’s the real telling story.

Senate Confirmation Votes for U.S. Secretaries of Defense

Office created by the National Security Act of 1947. Numerical tallies are shown where the Senate held a recorded roll-call vote.

#	Secretary of Defense	Confirmed	Senate confirmation vote
1	James Forrestal	1947	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
2	Louis A. Johnson	1949	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
3	George C. Marshall	1950	57–11 (required statutory waiver, P.L. 81-788)
4	Robert A. Lovett	1951	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
5	Charles E. Wilson	1953	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
6	Neil H. McElroy	1957	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
7	Thomas S. Gates Jr.	1959	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
8	Robert McNamara	1961	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
9	Clark Clifford	1968	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
10	Melvin Laird	1969	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
11	Elliot Richardson	1973	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
12	James Schlesinger	1973	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
13	Donald Rumsfeld	1975	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
14	Harold Brown	1977	Voice vote / unanimous consent (no recorded tally)
15	Caspar Weinberger	1981	Voice vote / unanimous consent (no recorded tally)
16	Frank Carlucci	1987	Voice vote / unanimous consent (no recorded tally)
17	Dick Cheney	1989	92–0
18	Les Aspin	1993	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
19	William Perry	1994	97–0 (unanimous)
20	William Cohen	1997	Voice vote / unanimous consent (no recorded tally)
21	Donald Rumsfeld (2nd term)	2001	Voice vote (no recorded tally)
22	Robert Gates	2006	95–2
23	Leon Panetta	2011	100–0 (unanimous)
24	Chuck Hagel	2013	58–41
25	Ashton Carter	2015	93–5
26	James Mattis	2017	98–1 (required statutory waiver, P.L. 115-2)
27	Mark Esper	2019	90–8
28	Lloyd Austin	2021	93–2 (required statutory waiver, P.L. 117-1)
29	Pete Hegseth	2025	51–50 (VP Vance cast the tie-breaking vote)

While Secretary Hesgeth is to be admired for his military service, placing him in the position of Secretary of War (Defense) given his lack of general office status, comparable large agency experience, or geopolitical background, is like taking a first-year medical student and making them Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed Hospital.

Notes

Entries marked “voice vote” were approved without a recorded roll call, the standard practice for uncontested nominations—especially before the 1990s—so no numerical tally exists. A few late-1970s and 1980s confirmations may have been handled by voice vote or unanimous consent without a published tally.

Defense Secretary confirmations were overwhelmingly bipartisan and uncontested for decades. Chuck Hagel (2013) was the first to draw fewer than 90 yes votes in the modern recorded-vote era. Pete Hegseth (2025) was the narrowest in the office’s history—only the second Cabinet confirmation ever decided by a vice-presidential tie-breaker.Three nominees required separate statutory waivers because they were recently retired military officers: George Marshall (1950), James Mattis (2017), and Lloyd Austin (2021).