Does the political realm constitute the best venue in which to serve God? Many prominent Christians must face that question.
For instance, in an interview published on Wednesday, legendary actor and unapologetic Christian Kelsey Grammer told Us Weekly that he has thought about running for political office, albeit for reasons that, in true Christian fashion, have nothing to do with self-promotion.
“I would consider it. It would possibly tick that box for me, in terms of the service I feel I should have given to my fellow man — to my fellow countrymen — that I missed in the military,” the 71-year-old Grammer said. “Maybe that would be the way to do it. I have wrestled with it.”
In his show business career, Grammer emerged as a beloved television figure while playing Dr. Frasier Crane on the long-running NBC sitcom “Cheers” (1984-1993). After “Cheers,” the even longer-running spinoff sitcom “Frasier,” starring Grammer as the character he made famous on “Cheers,” catapulted him to stardom (1993-2004).
Nowadays, however, the actor dwells on service, particularly his lost opportunity to serve in the Vietnam War. Grammer registered for the draft, Us Weekly reported, but he was never called to the service.
“There were people — my peers, young people my age — who went and died there,” he recalled. “I always thought there was a kind of sense of personal deficit in my own life, in my life story, that I didn’t serve in the military because my father had, my grandfather had, but in the circumstances of Vietnam and my generation, it was less attractive in some ways. I breathed a sigh of relief, and I didn’t go, and now I have a sense of regret that I should have served in some way anyway.”
Perhaps his work as host of “The Patriot War” — a documentary series about the American Revolution — has him thinking even more about military service. That series is currently streaming on Fox Nation. Us Weekly reports that it gives prominent space to Washington’s religious faith.
Do you want Kelsey Grammer to run for office as a Christian conservative?
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Grammer also has a role in “Young Washington,” a new movie from Christian-centric Angel Studios that focuses on the life of the first president decades before his turn as commander of the Continental Army.
“I am very, very proud to be connected in a deep way to the selfless and courageous acts of the people who founded this country, and I look on it as an obligation to continue what is a love letter in a lot of ways, but a deep gratitude for the opportunity they gave me,” Grammer said of America’s Revolutionary Era heroes. “I mean, if they hadn’t been here, who knows?”
In other words, should Grammer run for office, the Christian virtues of service and sacrifice would direct his steps.
Moreover, like many Christians, Grammer has not had a smooth journey to faith.
According to Fox News, in a February appearance on the “Arroyo Grande” podcast with host Raymond Arroyo, Grammer revealed that at times in his life he thought he was done with God, “but He wasn’t done with me.”
In 1975, Grammer’s 18-year-old younger sister Karen was raped and murdered. That horrific crime left the future acting star angry, bellicose, and distant from God.
In 2025, Grammer published “Karen: A Brother Remembers,” a memoir about his sister. According to Catholic Vote, the actor wrote about not only Karen’s murder but also two other tragedies.
In 1974, Grammer’s pregnant girlfriend aborted their child.
“Though I have supported it in the past, the abortion of my son eats away at my soul,” Grammer wrote.
“I supported the idea that a woman has the right to do what she wants with her own body. I still do,” he wrote. “But it’s hard for me. Still is.”
Then, years later, doctors convinced Grammer and his current wife, Kayte, to abort their twin boy, whose amniotic sac had ruptured at 13 weeks, in order to save their twin girl, a daughter they named Faith.
“We killed our son so Faith might live. We wept as we watched his heart stop,” the actor recalled in the memoir. “It is the greatest pain I have ever known. Kayte’s scream was enough to make a man mourn a lifetime.”
Enough to make a man mourn a lifetime. Could even the most ardent pro-life activists could find a better phrase for the horror they seek to eradicate?
In any event, Grammer summarized his faith journey in a 2023 interview with USA Today. while promoting the movie “Jesus Revolution.”
“I’ve had hiccups,” he recalled. “I’ve had some tragic times. I have wrestled with those and worked my way through them: Sometimes rejecting faith, sometimes rejecting God even, in a period of being pretty angry about it, like, ‘Where were you?’ That kind of thing. But I have come to terms with it and have found great peace in my faith and in Jesus. It’s not cavalier – Jesus made a difference in my life. That’s not anything I’ll apologize for.”
As Grammer told Arroyo, his anguish led to a spiritual encounter with Jesus.
“Don’t you think it’s time for you to give it up?” the actor said he heard Jesus say of the pain Grammer still felt over his sister’s murder.
“I said, ‘No, it’s OK, I’ve carried it this long, I can still handle it. It’s mine.’ And He said, ‘No, it’s mine. That’s why I came,’” Grammer recalled.
In short, Grammer values service and sacrifice. And he has seen his Christian faith forged in the crucible of tragedy. He also has a personal relationship with Jesus.
Americans could use someone like that in public office.
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