The Rise of the Christian Right in Politics

With the prominence of the Christian right in American politics at present, it is necessary for the average person to understand how they became such a fundamental part of the electoral process (akin to the necessity of Democrats to win over labor unions and more liberal Christian groups). The first major mobilizing effort began after the Roe v. Wade decision in January 1973, when pro-life activists began to organize nationally to prevent the expansion of abortion laws in the United States. This continues today, but the first time that they became a truly dominant force in electoral politics was in the 1980 presidential election when Ronald Reagan counted among his greatest supporters evangelists and other church leaders who saw Reagan as a great champion of conservative causes. 

But the most tangible example of the Christian right’s dominance in politics came with the brief 1988 presidential campaign of 700 Club founder and Christian evangelist Pat Robertson. Robertson ran in the Republican primaries until he decided to bow out in favor of supporting Vice President George H.W. Bush. But Robertson’s brief campaign energized Christian evangelicals and made sure that Republicans knew the biggest and most active supporting body within the party were followers of Robertson.