One of my most vivid memories as a basic training Army recruit is standing in line, waiting to go into the mess hall, and looking at the pictures framed on the wall. There were illustrations of engagements the Army had participated in: Vietnam, Korea, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War. Above those illustrations hung a portrait of the secretary of defense, the Honorable William Cohen.
To me, he was more than a name on the wall. I was the kid who, at thirteen or fourteen, had covered his own wall with cutouts from the newspaper. I was obsessed with the news. I’d been paying attention to the government long before I put on a uniform.
And now I was working for them. The guy in that picture was somewhere in my chain of command. Decisions made in Washington could determine where I was deployed and what orders I might receive. It added stakes to the story that I didn’t have when I was younger and just clipping papers from the newspaper.
STOP.
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The Country Behind That Photograph
Two other details about Cohen also belong in this picture.
First, Cohen was a Republican serving as the top Pentagon official under Democratic president Bill Clinton. [1] Cohen had a relevant public record, including service on the Senate’s Armed Services and Intelligence committees, to merit his selection, of course. [1] But his very presence in the Clinton administration was also a reminder that government officials, even at the cabinet level, serve an entire nation and not merely the supporters of their own political parties.
Second, in 1996, Cohen married television journalist Janet Langhart Cohen, who is Black. [2] Together, the Cohens wrote a book, Love in Black and White, which offers their perspectives on the challenges presented by race, religion and their relationship. [2] Their interracial family reflected the multiracial country Cohen was responsible for serving.
Competence Ain’t Always Pretty
The complicated answer isn’t always the best answer on TV, but it often is the best answer for the troops. Leaders who call shots that others carry out under fire should be thinking through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th order effects of their decisions. Lloyd Austin, the first Black secretary of defense, [3] clearly was.
His successor as secretary, Pete Hegseth, showed far less care with sensitive strike information.
Austin grew up in Thomasville, Georgia. When his family came to town, the schools there were still segregated; Austin graduated in 1971 from the newly integrated Thomasville High School. [3] His father was a postal worker, his mother, a homemaker. [3] Lloyd went on to graduate from West Point in 1975 and serve 41 years in the Army. [4] He commanded US forces in Iraq and directed the military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria as head of US Central Command. [4]
Speaking recently at the Warsaw Security Forum, the former defense secretary showed an acute understanding of the Middle East, its power centers, and the logic that animates their decisionmaking.
When asked whether the US attack on Iran had been a strategic mistake, Austin said that was for history to judge. He noted that Iran did not need a navy to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz because it could use cheap drones and missiles. Therefore, sinking Iran’s ships might not prevent Tehran from posing a threat to the strait. [5] Austin explained that both sides believed they could outlast the other. Iran, he said, had spent decades adapting to sanctions, and its leaders were willing to impose hardship on civilians. He expected the conflict to require a negotiated settlement: Iran wanted economic relief and security guarantees, while the US wanted Iran to relinquish its claim on the strait and negotiate over its nuclear ambitions. [5]
When asked whether Europe had been too cautious toward Russia, Austin supported pushing back, but said countries should coordinate their response and think about what happens next and what happens after that. [5]
Hegseth’s handling of sensitive strike information showed poor judgment. In March 2025, he shared advance details about planned US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen through Signal on his personal phone. [6] According to the Pentagon’s December 2025 inspector general’s report, his actions created risks that could have harmed US pilots and jeopardized the mission. Hegseth denies his conduct endangered service members. [6]
Thinking about what happens next and what happens after that is good generalship. Lloyd Austin demonstrated that competence in his answers at Warsaw. [5] Competence ain’t always pretty, but the people carrying out your orders still need it.
What Austin Wouldn’t Say
Asked during an interview at the Warsaw Security Forum about Hegseth’s proposal to livestream the Fort Hood shooter’s execution, Austin declined to criticize his successor. [5]
“I think that’s bad form,” he said. [5] Austin said he supported the death sentence for the Fort Hood shooter but added that public executions aren’t typically done in the military and said he had heard others raise concerns about publicity. [5] Trump scuttled Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution on Oct. 15. [7]
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently improper about criticizing your predecessors. In some circumstances, it’s warranted and justified. Austin’s failure to ensure the White House was promptly notified of his January 2024 hospitalization deserved criticism. [8] Hegseth criticized that secrecy while still at Fox News, and in this particular case I think he was right to do so. [9]
But disparaging a predecessor during a speech to admirals and generals is tone-deaf. In his September 2025 speech to military brass at Quantico, Hegseth invoked a “previous president and previous secretary” when discussing why he fired senior officers. He also described earlier political leaders as “foolish and reckless.” [10]
So while Austin deserved criticism for some of his decisions while secretary, he deserves credit on this one.
Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
Hegseth’s record deserves our scrutiny. During his address to general and flag officers at Quantico on September 30, 2025, Hegseth argued that too many officers had been promoted on the basis of their race or some historic first. [10] Hegseth’s point, that promotions should be based on merit and accomplishment, is well taken. But it begs the question which is this, based on Hegseth’s accomplishments and leadership thus far, is he the best candidate to lead the Pentagon?
Hegseth was an Army National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has been awarded two Bronze Stars for his service. [11] While his military service deserves our respect, his questionable leadership decisions and association with controversial figures merit further exploration. One such decision is Hegseth’s invitation to self-described Christian nationalist and pastor Doug Wilson to lead a worship service at the Pentagon this past February. Wilson is no ordinary guest: he has defended slavery and advocated stripping women of their right to vote. As NPR’s Leila Fadel wrote on July 7, Wilson’s controversial and extremist religious views are gaining political influence, even though they represent a minority of Christians. [12]
Beyond questionable leadership decisions, Hegseth faced further scrutiny during his confirmation process when it was reported that a woman accused him of sexual assault in 2017. As Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart of Reuters wrote on November 22, 2024, the Monterey County district attorney’s office declined to file charges because they could not be supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Hegseth has denied assaulting the woman, saying their encounter in 2017 was consensual. [13]
Black Americans have signed up and risked their lives for our country. So have women. Our Black and women volunteers deserve answers about this invitation and why a controversial figure like Wilson was given such a significant platform.
The Person in the Photograph
My benchmark is pretty basic: Do they understand what their decisions mean for the people carrying them out? Back when I ate in the mess hall, there was a photo of the man holding the office on the wall. And in that moment, I would see the face of decisions that one day would trickle down to me.
I think about that as I listen to Austin. Does the secretary understand the kid standing under his photograph, tasked with implementing his decisions? Does he think about what happens next? If Austin takes his time with answers, good. There’s nothing wrong with that. Someone should take that kid standing under his photo seriously enough to think before they answer.
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Sources
[1] Department of Defense Historical Office, William S. Cohen.
[2] William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen, Love in Black and White: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Romance, Rowman & Littlefield / Bloomsbury.
[3] Jeremy Redmon, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, America’s first Black defense secretary is a son of Georgia, February 25, 2021.
[4] Department of Defense, Centcom Commander Leaves Legacy of Leading from the Front.
[5] CNN-News18, Lloyd Austin’s interview at the Warsaw Security Forum, uploaded October 13, 2026.
[6] Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Report on the secretary’s use of Signal, DODIG-2026-021, December 2, 2025, especially page 25.
[7] Reuters, Trump cancels livestream of US military execution for Fort Hood killer, October 15, 2026.
[8] Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Findings on Austin’s hospitalizations and notification failures, January 15, 2025.
[9] Fox News, Hegseth’s criticism of Austin’s hospitalization secrecy, January 8, 2024.
[10] Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth’s address to general and flag officers at Quantico, September 30, 2025.
[11] Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth’s official biography.
[12] Leila Fadel, NPR, The pastor who wants to repeal voting rights for women is becoming more mainstream, July 7, 2026.
[13] Reuters, 2017 assault allegation, Hegseth’s denial and charging decision, November 22, 2024.
Thank you for the information about Cohen and for reminding US of Lloyd Austin, who I miss terribly.
Catastrophic wars of choice. Trump in Iran & Putin in Ukraine. War criminals need to be held accountable.