Seth Moulton is a Democrat and Iraq War veteran who wants to represent a new generation of leadership in Washington.
Born in Salem and raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts by his parents Tom, a retired real estate lawyer, and Lynn, a secretary at Massachusetts General Hospital, Seth is no stranger to hard work and service. He attended Marblehead public schools, followed by Phillips Academy Andover and Harvard College. Seth spent his summers throughout high school and college repairing boats in Marblehead and working on a shortline railroad in New Hampshire to help pay for school. Following Seth’s college graduation, with the encouragement of his mentor and Harvard chaplain, the late Reverend Peter Gomes, Seth decided to join the Marine Corps. Reverend Gomes often said that believing in the right thing, or supporting others who do the right thing, is not good enough; you ought to go do it. As the student commencement speaker at his college graduation, Seth challenged his classmates to join him in committing to service. Seth’s own path of service led him to four tours of duty in Iraq over five years. As an infantry platoon commander in the First Marine Division, Seth led an infantry platoon during the 2003 invasion and was in the first Marine company to enter Baghdad. During the early reconstruction period, he worked to establish an independent Iraqi media. The following year, Seth returned to Iraq as an infantry platoon commander and fought in the lead company in the Battle of Najaf. “Seth led an infantry platoon during the 2003 invasion and was in the first Marine company to enter Baghdad.” When the rest of his troops were preparing to return home, Seth was asked to stay in Iraq by then-Lieutenant General David Petraeus. He joined a small team of Marines working closely with Iraqi security forces and served as a liaison to senior Iraqi military and political leaders south of Baghdad. When Seth returned home the following year, he applied and was accepted to graduate school but deferred enrollment to again serve his country as a Special Assistant to General Petraeus. When the General returned to Iraq to lead the Surge, he asked Seth and his team to serve as counter-insurgency advisors south of Baghdad. After completing his final tour, Seth went back to school where he earned an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Pursuing his interest in transportation and infrastructure, Seth spent a year in Texas as the managing director of Texas Central Railway, a company building a high-speed rail line between Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. After supervising preliminary engineering and planning of the 240-mile railroad, Seth returned home to the North Shore of Massachusetts to start his own business. Today, Seth lives in Salem where he serves on the Board of the Salem YMCA.