Secretaries of Defense Make a Killing


On June 18 Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan stepped down after being exposed as a domestic abuser. Before becoming Secretary of Defense, Shanahan served as Boeing Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations.

Shanahan’s replacement and now acting Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, was previously a senior executive at the Raytheon Company as vice president for Government Relations.

In 2017 Boeing sold $26.9 billion in arms, Raytheon $23.9 billion. These 2 companies are the 2nd and 3rd largest arms manufacturers in the world after U.S.-based Lockheed Martin.

Every year billions of dollars of arms are paid for with U.S. tax-payer money. According to estimates by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the average American taxpayer has spent almost $24,000 on war since 2001.