section_path: Career/Political activism (2006–2016)
section_name: Political activism (2006–2016)
paragraph_text: Political activism (2006–2016)
  
  By August 2006, Hegseth moved to Manhattan and began working at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, where he met a marine who was working for Vets for Freedom, a political advocacy organization. He began working for Vets for Freedom in 2006 as an unpaid director; by 2007, he was working full-time as an executive director, and by the following year, he became the organization's president. In May 2007, Hegseth appeared at a presidential campaign fundraiser for Arizona senator John McCain. In the months leading up to the 2008 United States presidential election, Vets for Freedom began supporting McCain. As the group's chairman, he criticized Illinois senator Barack Obama for supporting "a dangerous policy of irreversible withdrawal." By January 2009, Vets for Freedom had accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills, leading to an internal campaign to oust Hegseth. The group merged with Military Families United, and he was removed from leadership by 2011.
  
  After returning to Minnesota in February 2012, Hegseth had decided to enter the Republican primary for the United States Senate election in Minnesota and had selected a campaign manager, Anne Neu Brindley. By April, his campaign had raised US$160,000. Hegseth was defeated by Kurt Bills in the Republican convention in May, and he withdrew his nomination days later. He founded MN PAC to support similar candidates, though a third of the organization's funds were given to his friends and family. Hegseth began working for Concerned Veterans of America, a group funded by the Koch brothers, that year. The group criticized Obama for the 2014 Veterans Health Administration controversy. Hegseth enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School in 2009, but completed just one semester; he graduated four years later with a degree in public policy. In 2022, to protest the offering of classes in critical race theory at Harvard University, he wrote "Return to sender" on his degree and reportedly sent it back to the university.
  
  Hegseth left Concerned Veterans for America in January 2016 after issues regarding his mismanagement and alcoholism. In December, President-elect Donald Trump considered Hegseth for secretary of veterans affairs, but he faced opposition from veterans groups who viewed Hegseth's support for allowing all veterans to choose private doctors as untenable; Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that selecting Hegseth would "be war" and "a radical departure" for the department. Trump later chose David Shulkin, with The Washington Post noting Hegseth's lack of experience in operating a large organization. Hegseth told podcaster Shawn Ryan that Trump found him too young to assume the position. After Shulkin fell out of favor with the Trump administration in March 2018, Hegseth positioned himself as a potential candidate, though Trump later selected Robert Wilkie after consulting Hegseth and financier Isaac Perlmutter.
  
  By August 2006, Hegseth moved to Manhattan and began working at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, where he met a marine who was working for Vets for Freedom, a political advocacy organization. He began working for Vets for Freedom in 2006 as an unpaid director; by 2007, he was working full-time as an executive director, and by the following year, he became the organization's president. In May 2007, Hegseth appeared at a presidential campaign fundraiser for Arizona senator John McCain. In the months leading up to the 2008 United States presidential election, Vets for Freedom began supporting McCain. As the group's chairman, he criticized Illinois senator Barack Obama for supporting "a dangerous policy of irreversible withdrawal." By January 2009, Vets for Freedom had accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills, leading to an internal campaign to oust Hegseth. The group merged with Military Families United, and he was removed from leadership by 2011.
  
  After returning to Minnesota in February 2012, Hegseth had decided to enter the Republican primary for the United States Senate election in Minnesota and had selected a campaign manager, Anne Neu Brindley. By April, his campaign had raised US$160,000. Hegseth was defeated by Kurt Bills in the Republican convention in May, and he withdrew his nomination days later. He founded MN PAC to support similar candidates, though a third of the organization's funds were given to his friends and family. Hegseth began working for Concerned Veterans of America, a group funded by the Koch brothers, that year. The group criticized Obama for the 2014 Veterans Health Administration controversy. Hegseth enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School in 2009, but completed just one semester; he graduated four years later with a degree in public policy. In 2022, to protest the offering of classes in critical race theory at Harvard University, he wrote "Return to sender" on his degree and reportedly sent it back to the university.
  
  Hegseth left Concerned Veterans for America in January 2016 after issues regarding his mismanagement and alcoholism. In December, President-elect Donald Trump considered Hegseth for secretary of veterans affairs, but he faced opposition from veterans groups who viewed Hegseth's support for allowing all veterans to choose private doctors as untenable; Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that selecting Hegseth would "be war" and "a radical departure" for the department. Trump later chose David Shulkin, with The Washington Post noting Hegseth's lack of experience in operating a large organization. Hegseth told podcaster Shawn Ryan that Trump found him too young to assume the position. After Shulkin fell out of favor with the Trump administration in March 2018, Hegseth positioned himself as a potential candidate, though Trump later selected Robert Wilkie after consulting Hegseth and financier Isaac Perlmutter.