Seth Moulton is a father, husband, Iraq War Veteran, and Congressman. He now serves the 6th District of Massachusetts, with an office just ten minutes from where he grew up, but he first began serving our country when he was 22.
It was the minister at his college church at Harvard who inspired Seth to serve. “It’s not enough to just support those who serve,” Rev Peter Gomes said, “You have to go out and do something yourself.” That advice resonated with Seth, and he decided to join the Marines.
9/11 happened a few months after his graduation, and little more than a year later, Seth was an infantry platoon commander in the first company of Marines to enter Baghdad in 2003. Despite his disagreements with the war, he insisted on returning for a total of four combat deployments so nobody would have to go in his place.
Seth went to business school on the GI Bill and worked in the private sector in Texas building the country’s first high-speed railway, but missed the sense of purpose he had in the Marines. Serving in Iraq with some of the best Americans he has ever met—while feeling let down and left behind by the politicians in Washington who sent them there—inspired Seth to run for Congress in 2014. He took on a nine-term incumbent backed by the party establishment, calling for a new generation of leadership in Congress, and overcame a 54-point deficit to win. He’s been keeping the promises of that campaign ever since.
In just three short terms in Congress, Seth has worked tirelessly to guarantee good-paying jobs for hard-working people—helping revitalize the biggest city in his district, the old factory city of Lynn, by organizing state and local leaders of all backgrounds. He’s become a leading voice on foreign policy and national security, serving on the Armed Services Committee and holding the Pentagon accountable while introducing bills to transform our national defense and combat foreign influence in America’s elections. And determined to lead by example, he held more town hall meetings in the 114th Congress than any other Democrat in the House or Senate—making sure that the voices of his constituents would be heard in Washington. He’s also fought for veterans health care while upholding his promise to continue getting his own care at the VA.
After the election in 2016, Seth recognized that America needs leaders who have faced challenges more difficult than losing an election or standing up to President Trump. So he used his organization, Serve America, to help change Washington by electing more service-driven leaders to Congress. Seth and his team mentored the candidates, raised millions of dollars for them, and campaigned alongside them in tough, Republican-held districts across the country. On election night, that hard work paid off: twenty-one of Serve America’s candidates won, accounting for half of all Democratic pickups in the House and flipping districts that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016.
Seth lives in Salem, Massachusetts with his wife, Liz, and his daughter, Emmy.
Congressman Seth Moulton was hosted by The Common Good as part of our 2020 Presidential Candidates Series on July 29, 2019 where spoke on on his experience as a veteran of the Iraq War as well as a Congressman. He also addressed any questions concerning him running for president.
Twitter: @sethmoulton
