Although now he walks through the marble halls of the United States Capitol, serves on influential committees and casts significant votes in the House chamber as the Massachusetts sixth district representative, it wasn’t long ago that Congressman Seth Moulton was just a kid sailing, fishing and swimming in Marblehead Harbor.
Photo by Nicole Goodhue Boyd
“Everything was on the water,” said Moulton of his favorite things to do as a youngster. He swam regularly, sailed at Pleon and worked fixing boats during the summers. “And I still love to swim in the ocean any chance I get,” he added.
Moulton thinks Marblehead is a unique town with a rich history, and that growing up here made him who he is.
“As I got older, I started to appreciate the amazing history of Marblehead and the role Marbleheaders have played in our country for a long time,” said Moulton. “Marblehead was essential to the Revolution, but Marblehead today is home to a lot of fascinating revolutionaries in their own right. It’s not a cookie cutter town with cookie cutter people.”
Moulton said that the strong Marblehead community has always supported him and had his back throughout his life and career.
“I think some of the people I have gotten to know around Marblehead are quietly ambitious with a broader world view beyond our shores,” reflected Moulton. “In particular, there’s a strong veterans community that’s been supportive, not just to me but to my family. And I’ve found a lot of role models in older Marbleheaders that I’ve met over the years.”
Moulton was just 10 years old when he was playing soccer at Seaside Park and a Marine Cobra Helicopter landed nearby for the anniversary of the founding of Marine aviation in Marblehead.
“I’d never seen a helicopter like this before, so I walked around it and admired it,” remembered Moulton. “Then I looked up at this big Marine major and said ‘Wow, you’re so lucky to fly this everyday.’ And the Marine major looked down at me and said, ‘I’m not lucky, kid, I’m good.’ I thought that was pretty awesome.”
Moulton later served four tours as an officer in the Marines himself in Iraq, enlisting just days after his graduation from Harvard University. He led a frontline infantry platoon in the first Marine company to enter Baghdad. After coming home and earning joint degrees in business and public administration, he began his political career, and has served in the House of Representatives since 2015.
“I certainly wouldn’t be a member of Congress if it wasn’t for my time in the Marines,” said Moulton. “I didn’t grow up interested in politics, but I saw the consequences of failed Washington leadership when I was in Iraq.”
Summers spent fixing boats also taught him the value that hard work and sacrifice can have, a lesson that he brought with him to the Marines, and later, to Washington D.C. But he thinks values like grit, serving your community and hard work have become much rarer these days.
“I think we’ve lost the grit and resilience that has always been a part of America,” said Moulton. “We’ve got to get back to the Marblehead tradition of serving others, not just ourselves. Marblehead has a proud history of service, so instead of thinking about how you can buy a house on the Neck someday, start thinking about how you can serve our country and make it better.”
Moulton thinks that young Marbleheaders should try to work hard, persevere and pursue lives of service towards others.
“My first piece of advice is to put your damn phone down and get your hands dirty,” responded Moulton when asked what advice he would share with young Marbleheaders.
“I always had blue collar jobs growing up and too many kids in wealthy communities are out of touch today with the real world and real Americans. The second thing is to work hard. We’ve developed a culture of laziness in America. And if you look at the history of Marblehead… it’s always been a town of grit and hardwork.”
Moulton strongly believes that although people are deeply divided right now, we have a lot more in common than we think, and that we can all accomplish so much more if we stick together.
“Marbleheaders have always been proudly independent, so rise above the partisan political fray and show that we can do great things together,” he urged.
