Dr. Belden Bell served as Counselor to the President of The Heritage Foundation and as a member of the Board of Trustees of that body.
A lawyer, author and journalist, Dr. Bell served, from 1985 to 1990 as OAS Ambassador/Director to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. He acted in 1996 as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Jack Kemp Vice Presidential campaign and was an alternate delegate from Virginia to the GOP national convention, and again in 2004.
In 2000 he was elected a full delegate from Virginia's 8th District. In 1992 he was the Presidential Elector from Virginia's Eighth District. During the Reagan years he first served as campaign Foreign Policy and Defense Advisors Coordinator under Richard V. Allen, was a member of the State Department Transition Team for President-elect Reagan, and was then named Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Affairs. He then served in a similar capacity at USIA. Bell has also served as Deputy Attorney General of Indiana and had a long career as a senior congressional aide, including serving as deputy director of the House Republican Study Committee. In 1976 he was Republican nominee for Congress, losing the general election by 4/10 of 1%. Dr. Bell is an Eisenhower Fellow ( ROC-Taiwan), and has been an international observer in national elections in Zimbabwe and The Island of Nevis.
He formerly practiced law in Evansville, Indiana and was assistant tri-state editor of the Evansville Courier. He served for four years on the Board of Visitors for The College of William and Mary and on the Richard Bland College Foundation board. He was educated at Dartmouth College, Indiana University (BA) and Emory University Law School (Doctor of Laws).
Bell authored Nicaragua: An Ally Under Siege and has written two newspaper columns. He has contributed articles to Human Events and the Washington Post. Bell and his wife Rae are the parents of three daughters, and live with several dogs and an unrepentant parrot. They make their home in Marshall, Fauquier County, Virginia, where Bell is a member of the Fauquier GOP Committee. He serves as an Elder in Warrenton Presbyterian Church.
