Join us in this captivating episode of Family Talk as we explore the exceptional nature of America’s history and future with former Congressman Bob McEwen. As the 250th anniversary of America’s founding nears, Bob McEwen shares his insights on what has made the United States a beacon of hope and righteousness, and what it will take to preserve these values for future generations. With his deep knowledge and perspective gained from decades in public service, Bob discusses why biblical principles are integral to America’s success and how they have shaped our nation’s identity.
You’re listening to Family Talk, the radio broadcasting division of the James Dobson Family Institute. I am that James Dobson, and I’m so pleased that you’ve joined us today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, welcome to Family Talk. I’m Roger Marsh. As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, it’s worth asking, what makes America truly exceptional? Why has this nation, representing just 4% of the world’s population, been such a force for good throughout history? And perhaps most importantly, are we passing on to the next generation the true story of America’s history and values? On today’s edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, we’re joined by someone who spent decades in the halls of power, yet never lost sight of the biblical principles that make our nation great, the Honorable Bob McEwen. Bob represented Ohio and the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms. He also served on the prestigious Select Committee on Intelligence and was appointed by President Trump to the 1776 Commission. Currently, Bob serves as Executive Director of the Council for National Policy, working to preserve America’s founding principles. He’s also an advisor to the Board of Directors here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. With his unique perspective on history and his optimistic vision for our future, the Honorable Bob McEwen brings both wisdom and hope to today’s conversation. Here now is Gary Bauer to introduce our special guest on today’s edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast division of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Gary Bauer, Senior Vice President of the Dobson Policy Center, the Public Policy Division of JDFI. Well, this is a great show that you’re tuning in today, too. We think they’re all great. But if you really care about America remaining one nation under God, if you believe in faith, family, and freedom, if you want to protect your children and grandchildren from some of the crazy stuff out there in our schools, if you want to learn more about being an effective Christian citizen, then you have picked the right half hour today. You know, as our country right now, this is an important time. We’re in the countdown moving toward the 250th anniversary of the founding of our great country, the United States of America. That 250th anniversary will be on July 4th, 2026. And we have a guest today joining us who’s going to look at all this and talk to us about why this is an important period in our history, what we ought to accomplish as we’re going toward this anniversary. Congressman Bob McEwen is our guest. He currently serves as executive director of the Council for National Policy. That’s a nonpartisan educational foundation. He has around 400 members. Really important group in Washington. Now, look, I’m getting ready to say something. I don’t want you to tune out here. Bob is a Washington insider, right? Usually people grab their kids and hold on to their billfold. But Bob is a Washington insider. Who’s on your side? That’s why Dr. Dobson and I consider him to be a hero, not only to this ministry, but a hero in the great battle for our country that we all know is taking place. Our good friend was elected to represent Ohio’s 6th District. in the U.S. House of Representatives. He did that for six terms. Over the years, he was asked to be a special presidential representative. That’s when a president asks you to do a task for them. He was asked to do that by both President Reagan and President Bush. Bob was appointed by President Trump to be on the 1776 Commission. That commission was assigned the task of coming up with new ways of teaching the rising generation about this great country and why it’s a country worth defending. So welcome to the show. We’re really glad that you’re with us. And I’d like to start since we are heading into this 250th anniversary. We had a parade not long ago here in Washington, D.C., and it was a parade honoring the 250th birthday of the United States Army. And Bob, I’m sure you agree, it was the strangest thing. I mean, who couldn’t like that? But there were a lot of newspapers that ran editorials suggesting all kinds of bad things about that parade. And I saw one member of Congress, I think it was a member of Congress, who said that when they heard there was going to be tanks in the parade, it reminded them of the tanks in Tiananmen Square in Communist China. That crushed the protesters. Well, my goodness gracious, the U.S. Army has been an army of liberation, not an army of dictatorship. So just wax eloquent about that. I mean, I don’t know if you went or not. I wasn’t able to personally go, but I watched it. It was a wonderful thing to see.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, it certainly was, Gary, just like it is the chance to be with you on the program. And you and I have had a long relationship with Jim Dobson, the blessing that he’s been to our families, and just as many of the people listening to the program, that their lives have been changed because of his faithful dedication to the Lord. And then to tie in all of the, you know, wisdom is the proper use of knowledge, and wisdom comes from experiences. And most of us I’ve never gone through the seventh year of a marriage with a five-year-old and a three-year-old. There’s things that we haven’t experienced before. And so the scripture says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and doesn’t scold us for asking. And so the wisdom that Jim Dobson was able to impart through the scriptures into our families have been such that we’ve been abundantly blessed. And hopefully today and in the future, you and I can help to pass it along. But in the process… I’m willing to note how great it is to be with you. As you know, the people should be aware that there are two people that stand just below the President of the United States. One’s the National Security Advisor, and that person travels with the President at all times. And he’s the one responsible for the Defense Department, the State Department, and intelligence services, so that if the country is ever attacked or under threat, that that’s who the Secretary of State or the Defense Secretary would go to to get to the President. And then there’s the assistant to the president for domestic policy. And so that’s all the other things that are done is housing and education and all the important things that our nation does on the homeland. And when Ronald Reagan chose you to be his assistant to the president for domestic policy, out of all the people in the nation— One that understood the biblical underpinning of a nation that has been able to bless the world as no other nation in the world has, which gets back to your parade. You know, only 4% of the population of the world call themselves Americans. And yet every year they write more books, more plays, more symphonies, more copyrights, more inventions than the other 96% combined. And no nation has blessed the world like this nation has blessed the world. If you take all the money that goes for global evangelism, and you put it out of the other 96% of the population of the planet, and you put it all in a pile, and you increase it five and a half times, that’s still not as much as Americans give to the furtherance of the gospel. This is the lighthouse for the gospel. This is the standard for righteousness in the world as to what’s right or wrong. And so everyone knows around the globe, if you want to take out Israel, you have to take down America first because America stands with Israel. And when Israel was being attacked, you remember, in the Yom Kippur War, and America wanted to help, and we wanted to use some of our supplies that are on the American bases in Europe, that those nations that are supposedly allies of ours, that were our allies, Army is located in France and in Germany and in Britain. All the nations of Europe refuse to allow us to use our equipment to give it to Israel to help them to survive. So we had to ship it from here. The point is that this nation is what stands for righteousness, for right and wrong on the high seas and in copyrights and in banking. And if you want to bring chaos, you must take down America, which comes to the part as to what you and I play, that we have been entrusted with this marvelous, marvelous privilege. The average constitution of a nation lasted 17 to 19 years is the average. Many of them change every six or seven years. The longest in the history of man that one nation has operated under one constitution is the United States of America. And just as we’re going to celebrate our birth date next year in 1776 to 2026. This nation is different from all the rest. And why is that? Because of its commitment to God that when they made the decision to start our country, No person, and regardless, dog catcher to president of the United States, no person shall take a position of leadership in this nation without first swear allegiance to God on the Bible. And if anybody thinks we’re unique, where does our strength come from? On every dollar, because people often think that it’s economy, the money that makes a person important. Put on there that we understand it’s in God we trust. That’ll be our motto. And then no congressional session. We shall never pass a law. We shall never consider a bill without first beginning the day by calling upon God in prayer. And then in case anybody forgets, when you do any official action in the United States of America, I don’t care if it’s declaring Groundhog Day or passing the budget. As we are all finished, the last line of every bill in this great country says, done the two most important days in the history of man. Done in this the year of our Lord, the 2025th, and of the independence of the United States, the 249th. To remind people that this nation that produces this little 4% that produces a third of all the goods and services on the planet. that this great nation has been entrusted to us, and that’s what we’re going to celebrate. And nobody has articulated it better than you, and nobody has lived it better than Jim and Shirley. And that’s why you and I are honored to be a part of this operation, to continue the tradition that he has established for us, that righteousness exalted the nation. That’s what makes us the unique place that we are.
SPEAKER 01 :
I know you were a great admirer of Ronald Reagan as I was and so many people that have been in this battle were first inspired to be in it when they heard of Reagan’s speech way back in 1964. Bob, I know that you share the same concern Dr. Dobson does and that I do, that in recent years, here we are living in this unbelievable country. I often will say to people, do you think God was surprised when you were born in America? Well, of course he wasn’t. He knew exactly where you were going to be born, and when he allowed you to be born in America— You got one of the greatest blessings anybody could get. If you think of all the other places in the world you might have been born into where the very act of going to church could have been an act that put your life in danger. He brought you instead into a country that’s built on ordered liberty under God. And I know you share the same concerns I do, that why was patriotism declining among our youth? Well, at least in part, it’s been because they haven’t been taught the true history of America. Now, that’s turning around now. I’d like you to share some thoughts about that. If we don’t teach the rising generation to love America, then all will be lost. And ironically, really bad places like communist China is instilling a fervent patriotism in the hearts and minds of many of their youth.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Gary, you and I have lived through a time in which we’ve seen America challenged and we understand the unique specialness of it. Young people that have been born have never seen America under threat. You know, the United States was not the leader in the world up until actually it was April 1947 when a telegram was sent from Clement Attlee, the prime minister of Great Britain, who had ruled the world for 250 years. And let me just say that never in the history of man has a nation become the premier nation on earth, but what it didn’t seek it and knew what it had to do to stay there, whether it be the Greeks or the Romans or the Spanish or the British or whoever, except for the United States of America, when at the end of World War II, when the entire world, that telegram said that if the United States did not intervene in the Cyprus crisis, the crown had neither the capacity nor the will to intervene, it would be lost to communism. And so with that, the torch was passed to a nation that didn’t seek it, It doesn’t covet it and wishes the burdens of responsibility and cost would go away, but it’s handled it so beautifully such that the entire world has been able to prosper as a result. If a ship is attacked on the high seas, as happened over 500 times last year, To whom can they appeal, whether it be in the South China Sea where 60 to 70 percent of all maritime traffic passes, whether it be a yacht in the Caribbean or in the Straits of Hormuz, a tanker, a British tanker that ruled the waves for 250 years? If that tanker is attacked, to whom can they appeal? We know that only the 327,000 Americans wear the uniform of the United States Navy are able to keep those people safe and secure. So the world has looked to America for the peace and stability, and we’ve blessed it as none other. Now, in an effort to take it down, how would you accomplish that? It stands for right and wrong. Everybody knows if you want to sign when there’s an agreement – In the Middle East, between two countries, where do they go to sign? Would they go to the United Nations? Well, that’d be silly. Would you go to Paris? No, they come to the lawn of the White House because that’s what the world looks to. They know that America is the imprimatur. So also, as a result, when you do things God’s ways, you prosper. And so the second richest spot on earth is Western Europe. France, Germany, Britain. And yet, as the Heritage Foundation and the Rector’s Study shows, every 24 months they do it and they find out that a person living in poverty in America, a person in poverty is more likely to have a telephone, a television. An air conditioner, an automobile, eats more meat, has more square footage space than the average resident of the second richest spot on Earth, Western Europe. In fact, our poorest state in the Union is Mississippi. Wonderful, wonderful place. And the average income of a resident of Mississippi is greater than a person in Great Britain. How could you take down a wonderful nation like that? Well, you would have to convince the young people to not know their history, how we became great not because we took over lands, not because we stole from people, only because we went around helping people. And while we’re on the topic, we just mentioned never in the history of man has one nation shed blood and treasure for the freedom of another nation. and never ask anything in return, except the United States of America. You look at these Korean veterans bearing their burden in their bodies every day, the sacrifice they made in that Korean War. And yet, what did we do? Only so that Korea could be free. There’s never been a country like this one. So how would you distribute? Well, you’d have to get teachers. You’d have to hire professors in college, and you would have to, rather than teach American culture, the greatest culture in the world, where people could leave your bicycle on the front lawn for two weeks and nobody didn’t have to worry about it, where people didn’t have walls around their property, where they trust one another, leave their doors unlocked, that great culture. In order to attack it, you would have to say that somehow or another, diversity is our strength. We’ll take those places where women are mistreated and where you have walls around your property and cut glass on top of the walls. We’ll take those people and bring them in here, and somehow or another, rather than having them become America, let them wave their flags, and diversity will be our strength. And we have young people that believe that the greatest culture in the history of man is strengthened by tearing it down with those— cultures from which people are trying to escape. That has now run its cycle. And Gary, I’m convinced that we are right on the cusp of turning the tide, the people going back again to being—and you can see it just as recently in the parade. You saw where the people on The View, they said that they’re so offended when they see the flag. So Donald Trump put 100-foot flagpoles in the front and back of the White House and the largest flags you could see. And when they had the parade, people just with tears and cheering and clapping, a wonderful, wonderful time. And then you had the left out there burning and destroying things in Portland and in Seattle and L.A. So other than the Northeast and the West Coast, the rest of America is a place that really loves our nation. And we’re going to continue to prosper and grow until restored again. And this little experiment with leftism, I think, has run its course. And these young people are beginning to return. Number one, they’re returning to the Lord. Across campuses, Bible sales this year are up 22%. All book sales are up 2%. Scripture versus sales are up 22%. On college campuses that used to be so destructive, there’s a revival taking place across the board. Ohio State University, the football team was baptizing in the quad as people were giving their heart to the Lord. We’ve seen lots of good things that are happening in the process. And that for which we have prayed and worked is about to come upon us. And no one has planted more in that garden than Jim and Shirley Dobson. That’s why you and I are so happy to be a part.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, as you were talking there, Bob, I didn’t need reminding, but I don’t think I know an optimist that’s more optimistic than you are. I guess Ronald Reagan would fit into that category. I learned pretty quickly at the White House that Ronald Reagan fired pessimists. So I had to put my usual dark impulses aside and see the silver lining in whatever was happening.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Gary, I don’t know. Let me just take a second. For people that are young, let me just tell you, when you and I were going through that experience and we saw things under Jimmy Carter, and of course it’s fallen to Donald Trump to have to clean up after Jimmy Carter at the Panama Canal, which controls access to our two oceans. There are Chinese bases on both ends of the Panama Canal that fortunately because of Donald Trump, the president of Panama, said we’d like to get rid of those, have Americans back. But Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal. Jimmy Carter installed the Ayatollah in Iran. Jimmy Carter is the one that put China on the Security Council in the United Nations and gave them a veto and abandoned Taiwan. So Donald Trump has to go back and clean those things up. And when you and I were experiencing all of that happening, I couldn’t understand why people – We’re not more concerned about what he was doing to our country. And then now that I’ve lived a little longer, I begin to see that they lived through the Depression. They lived through World War II when we won the war and yet watched the communists give away Czechoslovakia and East Germany and Poland and Romania and all that. So they had seen chaos before. And so when Carter gave us gas lines—can you imagine this? Because we were running out of natural gas. Here we are 50 years later, and we know we have more than a hundred-year supply. But liberals can—they’ll foul up a two-car funeral. So he told us that we had to live with less, ride our bicycle. America’s come to an end next Tuesday week, 18 percent inflation, 22 percent interest rates. And what happened? Exactly what you said. It said that America was finished. They really – it couldn’t compete. And on the night of the election, Donald – or Ronald Reagan went on nationwide television and he mentioned – talk about optimism. He had a picture of John Wayne on the cover of Time magazine. He said, I knew John Wayne. John Wayne was a friend of mine. And it had on there in the cover of Time Magazine, John Wayne, America’s last hero. And he said no one would be more offended at that title than John Wayne to say that the last hero. And he went on to explain that there’s nothing wrong with this country that proper leadership can’t cure. And so this country that was falling apart, cities were burning to the ground. We got gas lines. We got 22% interest rates. Jobs were closing. Our military, a third were on drugs. A third of our ships and airplanes were not airworthy or could sail. And yet from that, within a matter of months of turning it around, by 1990, the entire world— It was chanting USA, USA, USA. Three out of every four jobs created on this planet were created in the United States of America. Now, let’s fast forward 40 years, and we’ve got poor old – the man is asleep on the beach and filling the president’s chair. America is losing in every area. Saudi Arabia is going off the dollar and using the Chinese currency. And our military is teaching only transgenders and nothing about defense and all of that things is distressing. And what do we see taking place under proper leadership? We see recruitment. The flags are flying again. In five months, they hit a 29-year high in recruitment for the military. People are again proud flying their flags. Now, there’s still the leftists. As the gal on The View said, she didn’t like to go to Long Island because all those people were flying flags on their porches, and that was so offensive. So we’ve still got those people, and we always will. But in the process, we, I believe, are in a renaissance not dissimilar to what you and I enjoyed under Ronald Reagan some years ago.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bob, you are a walking history book, and your ability to inspire is second to none. Could I impose on you to give us another day at Family Talks so Americans all over this great country can hear you describe the American Republic and why it matters?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Gary, there’s no two people I admire more than you and Jim Dobson, so if it’s helpful to you, it’d be my honor.
SPEAKER 01 :
Fantastic. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you’re listening to a special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, featuring our own Gary Bauer, Senior Vice President of Public Policy here at the James Dobson Family Institute, and the Honorable Bob McEwen, discussing the past, present, and future of our great nation. And with our 250th anniversary just around the corner, what better time to take stock of where we’ve come as a nation, to identify the things that need to change, and to redirect our course back to what our founding fathers envisioned. Bob McEwen’s deep understanding of American history paired with his infectious optimism reminds us why it’s crucial to pass on these truths to the next generation. And by the way, if you’d like to hear this program again or share it with a friend, go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. You know, this year here at the JDFI, we’re celebrating 15 years of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, and we’d love to hear from you. How has Dr. Dobson impacted your life or family? Maybe it was wisdom shared on the radio or a book that strengthened your marriage or parenting skills, perhaps encouragement during a particularly tough season. Well, your story would be a meaningful gift as we reflect on God’s faithfulness through these 15 years of ministry and a look ahead to what God has in store for the future for JDFI. Now, if you’d like to share your personal tribute, go to our special page at drjamesdobson.org. That’s drjamesdobson.org. As the Honorable Bob McEwen so powerfully illustrated, America has been uniquely positioned by God to be a beacon of hope and righteousness to the world. Here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, we believe that strong families are the foundation of a strong nation. When you partner with us financially, you’re investing in the preservation of biblical truth and the strengthening of families all across America. Your faithful financial support enables us to continue broadcasting conversations like today’s that inspire faith, reinforce our godly heritage, and equip parents to raise the next generation of patriots who love both God and country. You can make a secure donation online, by the way, at drjamesdobson.org. You can also do so over the phone when you call 877-732-6825. And to send a tax-deductible contribution through the U.S. mail, our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949. Well, I’m Roger Marsh, so grateful you chose to spend this time with us today. Be sure to join us again next time for part two of our special conversation with the Honorable Bob McKeown, where he’ll share more about the spiritual awakening happening all across the country and what it means for America’s future. That’s coming up on the next edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.
SPEAKER 03 :
This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
