Randall Herbert Balmer (born October 22, 1954) is an American author, professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, an editor for Christianity Today and an Episcopal priest. He earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985. He has been a visiting professor at Dartmouth College and at Rutgers, Princeton, Drew, Yale and Northwestern universities and at Union Theological Seminary, where he is also adjunct professor of church history. He has also taught in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for script-writing and hosting the PBS "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America" based on his book with the same title.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Balmer

God in the White House, Randall Balmer explores the interplay between religion and politics in America, tracking the "religionization" of the Oval Office across the last half of the 20th century. How did faith become such an important criterion for the presidency?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18429953