The Admiral James W. Nance Foreign Policy Lecture Series
Featuring
U.S. Senator Ted Budd
“National Security in an Era of
Persistent Conflict”
Senate Armed Services Committee
Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
Small Business Owner
Thursday, November 12, 2025
11:45 p.m. EDT
Luncheon and Lecture: $50
Noble Smoke
2216 Freedom Drive
Charlotte, N.C. 28208
Ted Budd is serving in his third year as North Carolina’s junior United States Senator. He won the open seat in an election on November 8, 2022 and assumed office the following January. Prior to his ascent to the upper chamber, Budd served three terms in the U.S. House representing the 13th congressional district.
Budd serves on the influential Senate Armed Services Committee, and is a member of the transportation and small business committees. He also serves on the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence.
Prior to entering politics, Budd purchased a closed gun store in Rural Hill, N.C. and reopened it as a training site for law enforcement. It’s now a thriving shooting-sports retail store, training center and indoor range.
Budd received his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University, and earned a master of theology from the Dallas Theological Seminary, and an MBA from Wake Forest University.
He met his wife Amy Kate in the former Soviet Union on a mission trip in 1991, the week before the collapse of communism. The couple live in Davie County and have three children.
Brett Winterble hosts a popular afternoon drive conservative political talk show on WBT-AM NewsTalk Radio in Charlotte. He’s been ranked at the top of the “100 most important radio Talk Show Hosts in America” for the last five years.
Raised in West Texas, Winterble attended Emerson College in Boston where he earned a degree in Political Communication and Speech. He has a master’s degree in Homeland Security/Intelligence Studies from American Military University.
Before getting behind the mic, Winterble spent nearly a decade with Rush Limbaugh as a producer. He is married and has two children.
This lecture series is made possible by a generous gift from the John William Pope Foundation.
The Admiral James W. Nance Foreign Policy Lecture Series is named in honor of Admiral James “Bud” Nance, a lifelong friend and professional associate of Senator Helms. Admiral Nance was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, whose commands in the Navy included the U.S.S. Forrestal aircraft carrier. The admiral also served as deputy national security advisor to President Reagan and as the chief of staff to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.