French is a former senior editor of The Dispatch, a visiting professor of public policy at Lipscomb University, and a columnist for The New York Times.

[7] French retired from FIRE in 2005, citing plans to serve in the United States Army Reserve as a judge-advocate general officer.

French is a distinguished visiting professor of public policy at Lipscomb University, his alma mater.

In November 2022, French announced that he had "changed his mind" on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, although stating he was still morally opposed to the matter.

[25]French is a former major in the United States Army Reserve[26] and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

[26] French briefly considered entering the 2016 U.S. presidential race, citing his strong moral objections to U.S. Republican Party presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

[28] In 2016 French, his wife, and his family were the subject of online attacks when he criticized then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and the alt-right.