Although the White House has captivated national attention with its revolving door of hirings and firings, one recent appointment was overlooked by many: the promotion of U.S. women’s hockey goaltender Maddie Rooney to ‘secretary of defense.’
After Rooney helped the U.S. Olympic team take gold in women’s hockey by successfully defending against a Canadian shootout goal, an edit to her Wikipedia page on Feb. 22 changed her position to “United States Secretary of Defense.”
The edit was changed back by the next day, but not before actual Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis took notice. He sent Rooney a handwritten note, dated Feb. 28, congratulating her on a “magnificent performance,” from “one Secretary of Defense to another!”
“Dear Madam Secretary Maddie,
I want to add my congratulations to you and your teammates for your magnificent performance in the gold medal game. You proved yourself in a hard-fought competition and I salute you ― one Secretary of Defense to another!
We are all very proud of you.
Sincerely, Jim Mattis”
