On March 3, 2025, Linda McMahon was sworn in as the 14th U. S. Secretary of Education since President Carter founded the Department in 1980. She may be one of the most controversial of President Trump’s cabinet choices as she comes to her position with many opponents pointing out her shortcoming of having little knowledge of education at the grassroots level. President Trump ignored the critics. He saw Linda McMahon as a savvy businesswoman with qualities he knew would be needed to carry out his plan to dismantle the Department of Education and return the responsibility of education to the states. Linda had a track record of successes that proved she was the right person to take the helm at the Department of Education (DoED) to help the President deliver on his promises to transform America’s education system.

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In 1980, Linda McMahon and her husband Vince purchased a small wrestling franchise, Titan Sports Inc., and with Linda at the helm as CEO, over the next thirty years, turned that business into World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) while amassing a $3.2 billion-dollar fortune.

Along the way, she developed business strategies that President Trump saw would benefit the nation’s students in 100,000 public schools across America. When he asked her to help re-engineer America’s floundering education system, he had no doubt she was the right person for the job. She proved that she would make the difficult decisions to achieve the President’s goals when, within five days of taking the job, she had dismissed 1300 unnecessary employees within five days.

As for her major drawback of not knowing the nuts and bolts of education, Linda McMahon is a lifelong learner and information gatherer. She will learn the fundamentals of education and fulfill President Trump’s plan to transform a system that has fallen into disarray into a new one that will fit today’s needs and engage communities across America in improving education at a grassroots level.  

What did President Trump see in Linda McMahon?

Loyalty. President Trump knew the McMahons and had conducted business with them, raising money for the Donald J. Trump Charitable Foundation. During his first term as President, he suffered when the people around him were not loyal. He witnessed firsthand Linda’s integrity as he worked with wrestlers in an industry fraught with the opportunity to spread rumors. President Trump appreciated Linda’s loyalty. He once remarked, “I think she will be very, very loyal.”

Linda McMahon as a strong businesswoman

While she seems like an unlikely nominee, President Trump needed the skills, knowledge, and experience Linda McMahon acquired as CEO of WWE from 1980 to 2009. She built World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) into a multi-billion-dollar business during that time.

She knew how to work with a team

One of Linda McMahon’s first tasks at the DoED was to gather a team around her who would follow orders and accomplish the mission of reorganizing the Department and returning education to the States. During his first term in office, President Trump nominated Linda as administrator for the Small Business Administration (SBA). During her work with the SBA, Linda and her teams visited 68 communities across America to assist grassroots business endeavors.

Media Savvy

Linda McMahon has made relatively few on-camera appearances, often preferring to work behind the scenes. When she does give an interview, questions are answered quickly and to the point. She does not share her opinions, beliefs, or personal information. She sticks within the confines of her knowledge and does not respond to leading questions that could bring controversy.  

She knows when to talk and when to keep things to herself. She has never sought media attention, and in choosing her as Secretary of the Department of Education, President Trump knew he could trust Linda to deal fairly and professionally in her encounters with the media.

Reporters frequently ask Linda McMahon, “Will you demolish the Department of Education?” Linda McMahon’s reply is always truthful and firm. “We cannot eradicate the Department of Education; that will be a decision Congress must make.” 

Her commitment to her job

During a hearing for her role as Secretary of Education, she told the lawmakers, “I’m not an educator, but what you will have from me is my commitment to open-mindedness, my commitment, and my passion for education. I will do everything I can to bring sides together from the community, the public, business leaders, and hopefully, legislators to make our education the best it can be.”

Past work with the SBA proved she took her job seriously

President Trump said when he nominated her for the Secretary of Education, “Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience and deep understanding of Education and Business to empower the next generation of American Students and Workers and make America Number One in Education in the World. We will send education back to the States, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

President Trump believed Linda McMahon had the ability and the will to follow his mandate. President Trump asked for significant structural changes in the DoED. Those changes include redirecting much of the oversight of public schools to the states, redirecting programs, like the Student Loan programs, to the Department of the Treasury, and eliminating liberal social programs promoted by the current DoED, such as DEI, critical race theory, and transgender policy that allows trans men to participate in women’s sports. As Secretary, Linda McMahon can transfer services now provided by the DoED to other departments. Title 1 programs that allocate money for schools in low-income areas and other programs for special needs students will continue at the DoED or in some other federal department.

What Linda McMahon doesn’t know about education, she will learn

What did she know about dismantling the Department of Education? As it turns out, Linda McMahon knows a lot about education. She has a history of supporting literacy programs. She served on the Connecticut State Board of Education. The President of Sacred Heart University appointed her as a trustee. He later said she studied for every meeting and closely monitored university finances. She knew what her job was, and she did it. She is a strong proponent of parents’ rights, school choice, and charter schools. What Linda McMahon doesn’t know about education, she will learn. Coupled with her extensive business acumen, Linda McMahon is the perfect match to restructure an institution that wields massive influence over public and private schools and, ultimately, our nation.

Linda McMahon’s most significant weakness could become her strength. She admits that she knows little about the nuts and bolts of education. She is best known as a successful businesswoman. When the President nominated Linda McMahon, he said, “Linda will use her decades of leadership experience and deep understanding of Education and Business to empower the next generation of American Students and Workers and make America Number One in Education in the World. We will send Education Back to the States, and Linda will spearhead that effort.” He acknowledged she would also “be a strong advocate for parents.”

What is her background?

Linda came from humble beginnings that instilled in her the ability to treat everyone fairly, from the janitors to the star wrestlers. She was born on October 4, 1948, in New Bern, North Carolina. Her parents, Evelyn and Henry Edwards, worked at a military base, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. When asked how she felt working at WWE’s high-testosterone environment, Linda said, “I played basketball and baseball in school. As an only child, I grew up as my father’s son and mother’s daughter. I understand the male psyche well- I’m very comfortable in a guy environment.”

At 13, Linda’s mother introduced her daughter to 16-year-old Vince McMahon at church. They dated while in school and married soon after graduating high school in 1966 when she was 17 and he was 21.

She and Vince have two children, Stephanie and Shane, who work with WWE.

After graduating from high school, she and her husband, Vince, attended East Carolina University, where Vince received a degree in business and Linda a degree in French.

Although Linda McMahon is a billionaire, she quickly tells people she was not born into a wealthy family. On two occasions (2010 and 2012), she ran for Senate Seats in Connecticut, losing both elections. She shared from a pulpit on the campaign trail about the life she and her husband built from the ashes of adversity. She said neither of us was born with silver spoons in our mouths.”

Linda rarely mentions her religious beliefs. Although raised in a conservative Baptist family, she later converted to Catholicism after marrying Vince, a lifelong Roman Catholic.

Another area Linda guards is her relationship with her husband, Vince McMahon. Their marriage has been a mix of professional collaboration and personal challenges. They married in 1966 and built the WWE empire together, with Linda serving as CEO for many years. However, their marriage faced significant difficulties, including controversies surrounding Vince, such as misconduct allegations and financial settlements. These issues reportedly strained their relationship to the near breaking point. In 2024, they separated but remained married.  

Challenges Linda McMahon will face

Besides the usual challenges from hostile media and people who have liberal ideas on education, Linda McMahon faces a tremendous spiritual battle in her new position, mainly from powerful civil rights groups and two powerful teachers’ unions: the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). From the inception of the DoED in 1980 until now, the NEA has worked closely with the DoED to introduce programs and policies that specifically benefit the NEA at the expense of the students and their parents.

More than any other group, intercessors understand the vulnerable position in which Linda McMahon finds herself. She faces a formidable foe as she uproots 150 years of humanistic education put in place by powerful institutions that operated un-challenged, allowing ungodly values to become entrenched in American culture. They will not go without resistance, which places her not only as a threat to evil but as the person who could make history as a cultural change agent. She can implement changes that will transform America’s post-modern, pluralist culture of our public schools to a culture that represents virtue and truth within the context of Christian values. 

Let’s pray for Linda McMahon.

1. Lord, we ask for protection from harm as Linda McMahon serves in her new position.
2. Lord, we ask You to shine light on the evil policies and practices embedded in our schools and replace them with godly policies that promote a desire in our students to know You.   
3. Lord, we pray for school options for the students in our public schools. 
4. Father, surround Linda McMahon with godly helpers who will assist, support, and encourage her.
5. Lord, we pray the ungodly hold the NEA and the AFT have over our public schools is broken.   
6. Lord, where Linda McMahon is weak, send her godly council with the knowledge she needs to succeed.  
7. Lord, we pray for Linda and her family, Vince, Stephanie, and Shane. Surround them with Your protection day and night. Give them revelation knowledge of You and how much You love each one.  
8. Lord, we ask for a turnaround in education for our nation. We ask that knowledge increase as our students increase their knowledge of You.
9. Lord, we ask Your blessings on Linda McMahon. Give her strength for her days, wisdom in every decision, health for her body, and friends by her side.
10. Lord, we that you turn every weakness Linda McMahon has into a strength that will bring Glory to You.
11. Lord, we ask that You remind Linda McMahon to call on You when she is in need, attacked, or successful.     

Add your own prayers for Secretary McMahon in the comments below.

Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools. Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Revolutionize Your School and Decrees for Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. For additional information, go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Linda McMahon, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66915044.