Pete Hegseth Asks: Should We Change the Name of the Department of Defense?

President Trump and his administration sure love renaming things. We have the Gulf of America, which even Google Maps now acknowledges. Here in the Great Land, Denali is back, officially, to being Mt. McKinley, although opinions of Alaskans on the matter are decidedly mixed.

Now, in an interesting twist, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has taken to his official X account to ask if the Department of Defense should be renamed to the "Department of War."

Better name?

Have my thoughts…welcome yours. #PeoplesPentagon
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 22, 2025

As of this writing, "Department of War" is winning, 53.6 to 46.4 percent.

This merits a bit of thought. At the founding of the nation, the War Department (originally called the War Office) was one of the very first United States Cabinet departments. It was responsible for oversight of all the armed forces until 1798 when the Navy Department was formed. The War Department was also responsible for all land-based air forces until 1947, when the Department of the Air Force was formed after that branch's separation into a standalone service, after having been the U.S. Army Air Force. At that time what was left of the War Department was changed to the Department of the Army.

Later that same year, the Department of Defense was created, and given direction over the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the various national intelligence services - the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. That's how things stand.

So why change the name back to the War Department - or, as Secretary Hegseth puts it, the "Department of War?"

The primary purpose of our armed forces is indeed war. Large or small, near or far, our armed services are recruited, trained, and equipped to go forth, find bad guys, and permanently change their pronouns to "was" and "were." To that end, we - at least, now, in the post-Biden years - strive to instill in our military members a certain aggressiveness, to further not only their ability but their willingness to close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect. That mission and innate aggressiveness it requires is recognized by the term "War Department." Our military members are, above all else, warfighters. There's an argument to be made for recognizing that in the name.

Elon Musk thinks so:

War is more accurate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 22, 2025

Then again, our service members take an oath to "support and defend" the Constitution. We also strive to be a nation at peace; peace is good for business, after all, among other things. We maintain our military to guarantee peace; to that end, our armed forces should only be employed when there is a compelling U.S. interest involved. In other words, to defend the peaceful lives of the nation and our people.

There's no indication that Secretary Hegseth or President Trump will actually change the name of the DoD, of course. But it's an interesting question, an interesting premise, and an interesting set of arguments about either option. A fun thought exercise, for a peaceful Saturday afternoon.

WATCH: Pentagon Spox Sean Parnell's Powerful Statement About Afghanistan Withdrawal Accountability

Here's another interesting reply to Secretary Hegseth's query:

President Washington’s cabinet:

•Secretary of State- Thomas Jefferson
•Secretary of Treasury- Alexander Hamilton
•Secretary of War- Henry Knox
•Attorney General- Edmund Randolph

That’s it. That’s the cabinet.
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) March 22, 2025

Better times, maybe? There was clearly no need for a DOGE in the Washington administration, and in that regard, we may look back on them with envy.

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