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Vetting: Seth Moulton
“Vetting” is a series of essays that will provide in-depth analysis of the records of the more overlooked 2020 Democratic candidates.
As I wrote in a previous story, I had no idea who Rep. Tim Ryan was until he mounted an insurgency against Nancy Pelosi after last year’s midterm elections. It was around this time that I learned the name of one of Ryan’s foot soldiers — Seth Moulton.
Beyond that, I knew nothing at all about him. So who exactly is Seth Moulton?
Seth Moulton was born in Salem, Massachusetts on October 24, 1978. He attended Phillips Academy, a prestigious (and expensive) prep school, graduating in 1997. Moulton went on to Harvard and earned a degree in physics in 2001. Moulton then joined the Marines, attending the Officer Candidate School. He graduated from OCS in 2002 with the rank of second lieutenant.
Despite his opposition to the Iraq War, Moulton chose to serve anyway. Moulton was an infantry platoon commander in the first marine company to enter Baghdad during the Iraq War in 2003. After the battle, Moulton claims to have seen the mass graves of the many Iraqi civilians that Saddam Hussein had murdered during his regime. The next year, Moulton fought in the lead company in the Battle of Najaf, where he endured twenty-two days of intense urban conflict. Moulton served with distinction, winning a Marine Corps…
