Gary Lee Bauer (born May 4, 1946) is an American civil servant, activist, and former political candidate. He served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, and later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family, both conservative Christian organizations. Bauer was a candidate in the 2000 Republican Party presidential primaries and participated in five national debates. He is known for his advocacy of religious liberty, support for Israel, and his dedication to electing conservative candidates to Congress.

Currently, Bauer is president of the advocacy organization American Values. In May 2018, President Donald Trump appointed him to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Gary Bauer was born in Covington, Kentucky, and was reared in Newport, Kentucky, in a working-class family, the son of Elizabeth "Betty" (Gossett) and Stanley Rynolds Bauer, a laborer. He was reared in the Southern Baptist faith. Of his hometown, Bauer has said, "in the years I grew up there, the town was literally under the control of an organized crime syndicate out of Toledo, Ohio. And when I say under the control of it, literally the mayor, the city council, even the police department were all being paid handsomely." Bauer cited the community's efforts to oppose this corruption as a significant influence on his political conservatism.

Bauer received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, in 1968 and a J.D. degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in 1973. While attending law school, he worked as the assistant director of Opposition Research at the Republican National Committee from 1969 to 1973. He then took a position as the director of government relations for the Direct Mail Marketing Association, from 1973 to 1980. He served as a Deputy Under Secretary for Planning and Budget in the United States Department of Education, from 1982 to 1987, and as an advisor on domestic policy from 1987 to 1988. While serving under Reagan, he was named Chairman of President Reagan's Special Working Group on the Family. His report, "The Family: Preserving America's Future," was presented to the President in December 1986.

Bauer served as the president of the Family Research Council from 1988 to 1999. He resigned from this position to run for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. He left the race after the primaries in February 2000. In 1996, he founded the Campaign for Working Families (CWF), a political action committee dedicated to electing "pro-family, pro-life and pro-free enterprise" candidates to federal and state offices. In addition to serving as the chairman of CWF, Bauer is also the president of American Values, a non-profit organization "committed to defending life, traditional marriage, and equipping our children with" conservative values. He also serves on the executive board of Christians United for Israel, a lobby group headed by John Hagee. Gary Bauer was one of the signers of the Statement of Principles of Project for the New American Century (PNAC) on June 3, 1997. He also serves on the board of the Emergency Committee for Israel.

Bauer currently serves as the president of American Values (conservative values advocacy organization). At the end of May 2018, Bauer was appointed by President Trump to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Bauer is married to the former Carol Hoke, and lives in Virginia. Gary and Carol have three adult children.

Bauer has been described as a "politically conservative Baptist with strong commitments to preserving the traditional family and the Judeo-Christian values he believes are the foundation of American society." Bauer is anti-abortion. He is in support of repealing laws that allow abortion. He advocates for the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade as the first step in the anti-abortion cause. He wants to cut funding for Planned Parenthood and do away with any U.S. aid for organizations that provide or advise abortions. Bauer also says that he would counsel raped family members against abortion. He points to the Constitution and the Christian view of human life as reasons for not supporting euthanasia, stating that, "all people have immeasurable value because they have been created in the image and likeness of God." He is a supporter of the death penalty for death row inmates. Bauer opposes cloning and embryonic stem cell research, but supports adult stem cell research. He supports a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and prefers abstinence programs to comprehensive sex education programs. Bauer wants to remove from the tax code all economic disincentives to marry.