Congressman, Thomas Ewing was considered to be a Conservative, favoring a smaller, less intrusive government, but more on economic issues than on social ones.

A leader in the Congressional Rural Caucus, Ewing used his Agriculture Subcommittee chairmanship to call attention to the concerns of the nation's farmers.

[2] Ewing played an active role in shaping the Republican Revolution that brought his party to the majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in more than 40 years.

He is also a former director of the Institute for Representative Government, a federally-funded bipartisan effort to advance democratic principles among the leaders of developing nations.

In 2002 he was honored by being selected by the Millikin Board of Trustees as a recipient of the Millikin Medallion Society award, the Illinois Farm Bureau Charles B. Shuman Distinguished Service Award, and inducted into the Hall of Fame of the 67th Sigma Alpha Epsilon Leadership School.

In 2005 and 2006 he completed two task force assignments: first, with the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations to examine the future of U.S. agriculture policy, and second, as co-chairman of the Aspen Institute's three-day symposium on achieving the security, environmental, and economic potential of bioenergy.

He is also a former director of the Institute for Representative Government, a federally-funded bipartisan effort to advance democratic principles among the leaders of developing nations.

He is working on several major initiatives to advance the development of alternate and renewable energy sources that would benefit our national economy, contribute to national defense, and reduce our need for imported oil, and was a member of the Steering Committee of the Ag Energy Working Group 25x25.