Secretary of Defense James Mattis stopped by the Pentagon press corps Thursday to urge the media to stop referring to him as “mad dog.”
“I go by Jim,” he said. “It’s you guys that came up with Mad Dog,” adding “My own troops were laughing about it, saying, ‘We know your call sign is Chaos, where did this come from?’ It must have been a slow news day; some newsperson made it up.”
Mattis hammered the point home saying, “I go by Jim. I was born Jim. I am from the West. Jim is fine, OK? How’s that? And that’s on the record.”
Mattis’s nickname particularly endeared him to President Donald Trump, who referred to him by the moniker when he announced him as his pick to head up the Pentagon.
Mattis reportedly earned his famous nickname after the 2004 Battle of Fallujah. He is also known by the nickname, “The Warrior Monk,” stemming from his well documented love of reading.
Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter
Send tips to saagar@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.