Just off of Independence Ave beside the Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial stands the US Department of Education. It is the seat of the highest power in education in the world’s most affluent democracy, under the office of the President of the United States—the US Secretary of Education. A coveted position that could now go to former wrestling tycoon, Linda McMahon.
For many millennials who spent most of their childhood and school years following the WWE, it is a surreal time... for President-elect Donald Trump to pick none other than former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon to be his incoming Education Secretary.
For the uninitiated, Linda McMahon might be the wife of the famous wrestling promoter Vince McMahon. The pair founded the World Wrestling Entertainment (derived from the World Wide Wrestling Federation) and cemented it as the industry leader in “wrestling entertainment”—a unique mix of professional wrestling with carefully scripted storylines and outcomes.
However, Linda McMahon, in 2024, is quite the political power. She renounced her position as WWE chief and stepped into politics back in 2010. McMahon, however, lost in back-to-back polls for the Connecticut seat to the US Senate—both in 2010 and in 2012. She quickly transformed herself into a promoter, much like in the WWE, pumping money into promising candidates. Her USD 6 million to support the Trump candidacy in 2016 paid off.
Trump picked McMahon as head of the Small Business Administration during his first presidential term, earning praise from both Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, the Democratic senators who defeated her in 2010 and 2012, respectively. McMahon went on to prove her mettle, as the leader of the agency that provided disaster relief to businesses and monitored contract-law compliances of officials in the government. “I knew she was good, but I didn’t know she was that good,” Trump had then praised McMahon.
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Even though McMahon left the administration back in 2019, she kept her support of Trump intact.
She not only chaired the super PAC “America First Action” backing Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020 but also co-chaired his transition team with Howard Lutnick in Donald Trump’s successful 2024 run.
A Family Life Filled with Wrestling Moments
Seventeen-year-old Linda married 21-year-old Vince McMahonin August 1966. Linda McMohan holds a bachelor’s degree in French and a certification to teach from East Carolina University.
By 1971, her husband Vince McMahon joined his father’s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which would later become the famous WWE brand under the couple. Linda McMahon has two children with Vince, son Shane (born 1970) and daughter Stephanie (born 1976).
In his days on “The Apprentice”, Donald Trump feuded with Vince McMahon, much to the amusement of the public. The heavily scripted altercation led to Trump reaching WWE’s biggest event, Wrestlemania 23, in 2007, ending with the billionaire shaving off Vince McMahon’s hair in the wrestling ring. And now, in 2024, Donald Trump is the US President-elect with Linda McMahon as the Education Secretary.
The first of McMahon’s children, Shane was a former wrestler at WWE and served as Executive Vice President of WWE’s Global Media arm. However, a couple of months ago, there were rumours that he was moving to WWE rival AEW (All Elite Wrestling) to assume a management position.
McMohan’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon Levesque, is also a retired wrestler who became the WWE chairperson in 2022 following the resignation of her father. However, she resigned her post when Vince McMahon returned a year later. She is married to WWE Chief Content Officer and former wrestler Paul Levesque, who is more famous by his ring name “Triple H”.