Mark Esper

United States Secretary of Defense

• Born: April 26, 1964
• Place of Birth: Uniontown, Pennsylvania

Education: United States Military Academy; Harvard University; George Washington University

Significance: Mark Esper is a decorated US Army veteran and a former lobbyist for Raytheon who, in 2017, was appointed the twenty-third United States Secretary of the Army in the administration of President Donald Trump. He went on to become US Secretary of Defense in July 2019, serving until November 2020.

Background

Mark Thomas Esper was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on April 26, 1964. Growing up in small-town Pennsylvania, he attended Laurel Highlands High School, from which he graduated in 1982. He then enrolled in the US Military Academy at West Point, where he won the Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1986, he served in the 101st Airborne Division, serving with distinction in the 1991 Gulf War. For his service in that conflict, he earned a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge. After serving as an Airborne Rifle Company commander in Europe, Esper returned stateside, where he served in the National Guard and Army Reserve, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

While serving as an army fellow at the Pentagon, Esper attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, earning a master’s degree in 1995. He later earned a doctorate from George Washington University. Between 1996 and 1998, Esper worked as chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation.

Political Career

In 1998, Esper began work as a staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Over the next decade, Esper would serve in various advisory roles for Senate Republicans, including serving as deputy assistant secretary of defense in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2004 and as national policy director in the 2008 presidential campaign of Fred Thompson. During his time in Washington, DC, Esper focused on issues such as national security and nuclear nonproliferation.

He returned to the private sector in 2010, serving as vice president of government relations at Raytheon, a major US defense contractor. At Raytheon, Esper served as a lobbyist for the defense industry until 2017, when he was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as United States Secretary of the Army. Esper represented President Trump’s third attempt to fill the seat after both of his previous nominees, Vincent Viola and Mark E. Green, had withdrawn their names, the former due to inability to sever business ties that might have led to conflicts of interest and the latter over negative comments he had made about transgender people and Muslims, among other groups. Unlike those of many other Trump appointees, Esper’s confirmation went relatively smoothly, with a final vote of 89–6. There was some opposition aimed at Esper’s work as a lobbyist for the defense industry, most notably from Republican senator John McCain of Arizona, but this was not enough to stand in the way of his confirmation.

Esper took over the position of secretary of the Army on November 20, 2017. After rising to Army secretary, he pursued an aggressive agenda of military modernization with aims of expanding the military’s manpower while also reshaping the Army to face the wars of the future—highly surveilled, urban conflicts that rely increasingly on sophisticated intelligence and technology. In June 2018, Esper, along with Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, released a vision statement for the Army that expressed a hope to completely reshape the fighting force by 2028. Esper also formed the first major new command in decades, Futures Command, which focuses on implementing modernization efforts.

Esper remained Army secretary until July 23, 2019, when his appointment as secretary of defense was confirmed by the Senate. He was sworn in the same day. As defense secretary, Esper initiated cost-saving and efficiency reforms, sought to implement his predecessor's National Defense Strategy, emphasized China as a defense priority, and helped launch Space Force as the sixth branch of the US military. He also oversaw the military's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In 2020, tensions grew between Esper and Trump, as Esper frequently voiced different policy positions from Trump's. Notably, he gave a different cause for an explosion in Lebanon, supported renaming military bases named after Confederates, and was contradicted over the reason for withdrawing US troops from Germany. That June, Esper publicly opposed the president's proposed use of the Insurrection Act in response to widespread civilian protests against racism and police brutality, displeasing Trump. The White House reportedly considered whether to replace Esper in the months following. Esper resigned from his position on November 5, 2020. Esper was then publicly critical of Trump’s disagreement with the 2020 election results and his call for people to protest them.

In the private sector, he became a partner in Red Cell Partners, a venture capital firm. He also served on the boards of the Atlantic Council, McCain Institute, and US Global Leadership Coalition. He was the Distinguished Chair of the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Esper published his memoir, A Sacred Oath, in 2022. In the book, he said that Trump asked him at least twice in 2020 about launching missiles into Mexico targeting drug labs and cartels. Esper quoted Trump as saying nobody would know who launched the Patriot missiles. He said before the 2020 presidential election, he feared Trump might use the military to stay in power and told the general who commanded the National Guard to let him know if anyone from the White House contacted him. When during a meeting in 2020 Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told Trump he could not send the National Guard or active-duty troops to stop protests after the death of George Floyd, Esper said, Trump became irate. He called Milley, Esper, and Attorney General Bill Barr they were losers, hurling an expletive at the men. He then repeated the insult, directing it at Vice President Mike Pence, who was also in the room. Esper further revealed in the memoir that after a May 9, 2020, meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff about China, Trump's erratic behavior prompted one unidentified officer to look into the twenty-fifth amendment. This amendment lays out the process by which a president may be removed if certain senior officials believe he is unable to perform the duties of the office. Esper discussed some of these revelations in an interview with 60 Minutes in May 2022.

Impact

Esper proved to be one of the least controversial and most successful cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration. Unlike many of his colleagues, Esper is a career political staffer with decades of experience dealing with Congress, the media, and the military, meaning he has been free of the sort of scandals that plagued other members of Trump’s cabinet. Because the US armed forces also enjoy wide bipartisan congressional support, Esper found it relatively easy to advance his projects and attain federal funding. In 2021, the George C. Marshall Foundation honored him with the Andrew J. Goodpaster Award for leadership and service to the nation. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute honored him in 2022 with its annual Peace Through Strength Award.

Personal Life

Mark Esper married Leah Esper around 1990. They have three children.

Bibliography

"About Dr. Mark T. Esper." Mark T. Esper Website, 2024, www.marktesper.com/about#PrivateSector. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

Chatelain, Ryan. "Missiles in Mexico, Shooting Protesters and More: 7 Stunning Claims Mark Esper Makes About Trump White House in New Book." Spectrum News NY1, 6 May 2022, ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/05/06/7-stunning-claims-mark-esper-makes-in-new-trump-book. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

“A Conversation with the Secretary of the Army: Building a More Lethal Force in an Era of Renewed Great Power Competition.” The Heritage Foundation, 5 Apr. 2018, www.heritage.org/defense/event/conversation-the-secretary-the-army-building-more-lethal-force-era-renewed-great. Accessed 23 July 2018.

“A Discussion on Priorities for the U.S. Army with Secretary Mark Esper.” The Brookings Institute, 5 June 2018, www.brookings.edu/events/a-discussion-on-priorities-for-the-u-s-army-with-secretary-mark-esper/. Accessed 23 July 2018.

“Dr. Mark T. Esper.” Department of Defense, 2023, www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/1378166/dr-mark-t-esper/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.

Eaglen, Mackenzie. “Esper’s Reforms: An Interim Report Card.” Defense One, 12 Oct. 2020, www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/10/espers-reforms-interim-report-card/169177/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.‌

Gibbons-Neff, Thomas, and Greg Jaffe. “Trump to Nominate Raytheon Lobbyist for Next Army Secretary.” The Washington Post, 19 July 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/07/19/trump-to-nominate-raytheon-lobbyist-for-next-army-secretary/. Accessed 23 July 2018.

Keller, Jared. “Meet Your Brand New Secretary of the Army.” Task and Purpose, 16 Nov. 2017, taskandpurpose.com/army-secretary-mark-esper/. Accessed 23 July 2018.

Myers, Megan. “The Army Released a New Vision Statement—Here Are 3 Things Soldiers Need to Know.” Army Times, 6 June 2018, www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/06/the-army-released-a-new-vision-statement-here-are-3-things-soldiers-need-to-know/. Accessed 23 July 2018.

Yang, Gyu Hyun. “SecArmy Spouse, Leah Esper, Tours American Military Post in South Korea.” US Army, 12 Jan. 2018, www.army.mil/article/199027/secarmy‗spouse‗leah‗esper‗tours‗american‗military‗post‗in‗south‗korea. Accessed 23 July 2018.