White House Veterans Trust in God, Not Politics

George and Becky Dunlop have spent their entire adult lives immersed in the upper echelons of American political power. George, a North Carolina native, and Becky, who grew up in Ohio, met and married while making their way as young professionals on Capitol Hill.

For 40-plus years they both served in various high-profile roles in the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, and at think tanks and consulting firms. The Dunlops have seen the upside of good government—principled men and women linking arms for the common good. And they’ve seen the deceptive traps of the Washington, D.C., power lifestyle—what it can do to people’s souls.

In all those years, the Lord helped them to preserve their marriage and their Christian witness in a city where the devil seems to work overtime to break apart marriages and ruin reputations.

And those years in that world have only solidified a deep conviction: America’s greatest need and only hope is found in Jesus Christ.

“We think it’s important to participate in the political system,” Becky said. “However, what George and I fundamentally believe is that ministers of the Gospel need to encourage, lead and challenge people not only to accept Christ as their personal Savior, but also to live according to the lessons that we are taught in the Scriptures. And that will presage another Great Awakening.”

Now retired to rural Virginia, the Dunlops have had time the last few years to reflect on all things political, and spiritual. Praying for a sweeping spiritual awakening has become a passionate focus for them, and a motivation as they steward their time and resources into ministries such as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which holds special significance to them.

Providential Paths

George received Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in Mr. Graham’s home-town of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1958, at 12 years old. He had come to the Coliseum with his Boy Scout troop from nearby Salisbury.

“That moment became a high point in relation to the subsequent aspects of my life,” George told Decision. “I found that the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life was the most important thing that could possibly have happened to me.”

For Becky, that moment of decision to follow Jesus came as a young child growing up in the home of a Baptist pastor in Columbus, Ohio. She went on to help establish a Campus Crusade chapter at Miami University in Ohio, while pursuing her degree and eyeing a political career.

George, who is five years older than Becky, had landed in Washington, D.C., after being enlisted to help an old college friend direct the 1972 Senate campaign for a North Carolina television personality named Jesse Helms. Instead of George using his newly minted history Ph.D. to teach as he had planned, after Helms’ victory, he joined the Helms Senate operation, quickly moving up the ranks.

Becky moved to Washington in 1973 after receiving a surprise job offer from the American Conservative Union, quickly advancing to the role of political director.

One day in 1976, Becky called George, a stranger to whom she had been referred, to set up a lunch appointment to talk about North Carolina delegates to the Republican National Convention that year. She didn’t know it, but George, like Becky, enthusiastically supported the primary candidacy of a former California governor named Ronald Reagan.

“We ended up solving a political problem and we became friends as well,” Becky recalled. “And ultimately—again, God’s providence—we fell in love and got married.”

George, along with Helms, escorted Reagan to speaking engagements in North Carolina that year, helping him carry the state on the GOP ticket, even though he fell short of the nomination.

Four years later, Reagan won the presidency, and at different times, both Becky and George played key roles in the administration—Becky ending up as deputy assistant to the president for personnel, and George as assistant secretary of agriculture. Becky also served stints at the Justice and Interior departments.

Years later, Becky served as secretary of natural resources for Virginia Gov. George Allen from 1994-98. And in 2001, George was recruited back to a government role in the Department of the Army under President George W. Bush, a job he held through both of Bush’s terms.

During their time in Washington, they never shied away from respectfully practicing their faith. After government service, Becky spent nearly 25 years as a vice president and distinguished fellow at a prominent conservative think tank, where toward the end of her tenure she confided in her boss that while she loved the principles espoused by the organization, “I want you to know that George and I believe that a great awakening is what is going to rescue our country.”

“From that day until the day I left, my relationship with him was non-existent,” Becky recalled.

At the Pentagon, George exhibited the same boldness. He helped to bring Franklin Graham to the Pentagon for the National Day of Prayer, where controversy erupted after Franklin said that Jesus is the only way to God. The next day, an assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told George: “If you pull another stunt like this, I’ll see that you’re cashiered from the Army.”

George didn’t let the rebuke phase him—he didn’t need the job—and he continued in that role for another six years.

“The first priority is what God calls us to do, and that is to preach to the nations and to then help people live according to what they believe,” Becky said. “And the second thing is to do all of your work with excellence.” ©2024 BGEA

Above: George & Becky Dunlop with Ronald Reagan’s Jeep, during a visit to the former president’s ranch in California.