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Gary Bauer Biography

Political Figure

Gary Bauer held several jobs in the Ronald Reagan administration, rising to the directorship of the White House's Office of Policy Development. In 1988 he became head of the Family Research Council, turning it into a prominent lobbying organization for conservative and Christian ideals; later he founded a political action committee, the Campaign for Working Families, whose purpose he described as "to elect pro-family, pro-life, pro-free enterprise candidates to public office." Bauer took a leave of absence from the FRC in 1999 and announced his intention to run for president. He dropped out of the race in February 2000, after a poor showing in the primary elections.

Extra credit: Others instrumental in the founding of the Family Research Council include James Dobson and Edgar Prince, the father of Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince.

Bauer appears with John McCain and Bill Bradley in our loop Candidates 2000.