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The Rise and Fall of the Christian Coalition is Joel D. Vaughan's insider's history of the organization. [1] Released by Wipf & Stock in 2009, Vaughan's is the only history of the organization that received much credit for the 1994 Republican takeover of both houses of Congress.
The Christian Coalition was founded in 1989 by religious broadcaster and former Republican presidential candidate M. G. "Pat" Robertson. The Christian Coalition sought to identify ten anti-abortion voters in each of America's 175,000 precincts. Robertson hired University of Georgia doctoral student Ralph E. Reed, Jr., to run the organization and watched Reed take it to greater heights in American politics.
When Reed left the Christian Coalition in 1997 in order to become a full-time Republican political consultant, Robertson brought in Ronald Reagan's Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel as president and former Representative from Washington State Randy Tate as executive director. Hodel resigned two years later out of a dispute with Robertson over the direction and principles represented by the organization, and Tate left later the same year.
Robertson then brought in board member and South Carolina state chairman Roberta Combs as executive vice president, before turning over the presidency to her in late 2001.
Joel D. Vaughan began with Reed in 1989 as a volunteer, stuffing envelopes and hammering in yard signs. [2] In 1991, he joined the field department, becoming deputy national field director in 1993. He joined Hodel's staff in 1997 as special assistant to the president and was promoted to director of administration in 1998.
Currently serving as Chief of Staff for Focus on the Family, Vaughan has been at the forefront of the Christian Right for over two decades, and alongside its most notable leaders: (in chronological order) Robertson, Reed, Hodel, Dr. James Dobson, and Focus on the Family President James Daly. [3]
Vaughan's book is not only a history of the Christian Coalition but is the definitive book[ according to whom? ] on the Religious Right in American politics. In classroom use at the university level at Georgetown University and elsewhere, The Rise and Fall of the Christian Coalition gives students an inside look, the only inside look, at this phenomenal organization and its controversial leadership.
Republican strategist and pollster Kelleyanne Conway praised Vaughan's work: "Joel Vaughan relies on neither gossip nor guesswork in this compelling book. His is an insider's account; ten years at the Christian Coalition and an easy writing style provide the reader with a ringside seat to one of the most controversial—and consequential—periods in modern American political history." [4]
Non-profit watchdog Rusty Leonard added: "In a thorough and entertaining manner, Vaughan's The Rise and Fall of the Christian Coalition captures the essence of the Coalition, its leaders, and the political environment in which the group rose to prominence, as well as how it ultimately dwindled into insignificance. All students of political history and social movements will benefit from Vaughan's fair-minded recounting of this unique period of our history, when Christians were able to mold the political landscape in a manner few would have ever believed possible. And those who witnessed this remarkable organization's dramatic evolution will find Vaughan's 'behind the scenes' insights to be both illuminating and engaging." [5]
Former Christian Coalition press secretary and Virginia anti-abortion organizer Chris Freund gave a strong endorsement: "As someone who knows Joel Vaughan from our days working together at the Christian Coalition, I highly recommend his book. If you want to know the truth of what happened, this book is a must read." [6]
Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot writes that Vaughan's book "is no dewy-eyed paean to the Robertson enterprise. For those interested in a detailed and unvarnished inside view of the coalition's meteoric rise and subsequent implosion, it is a worthwhile read." [7]
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James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by The New York Times while Slate portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson was an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, presidential candidate, and charismatic minister. Robertson advocated a conservative Christian ideology and was known for his involvement in Republican Party politics. He was associated with the Charismatic movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He served as head of Regent University and of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
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Donald Paul Hodel is an American former politician who served as United States Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Interior. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy," which stated that disused dirt roads and footpaths could be considered right-of-ways under RS 2477.
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Ralph Eugene Reed Jr. is an American political consultant and lobbyist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia but lost the primary election on July 18, 2006, to state Senator Casey Cagle. Reed started the Faith and Freedom Coalition in June 2009. Reed and his wife JoAnne Young were married in 1987 and have four children. He is a member of the Council for National Policy.
The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian right, to "bring more focus and force to conservative advocacy". The membership list for September 2020 was later leaked, showing that members included prominent Republicans and conservatives, wealthy entrepreneurs, and media proprietors, together with anti-abortion and anti-Islamic extremists. Members are instructed not to reveal their membership or even name the group.
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Christian Voice is an American conservative political advocacy group, known as part of the Christian right within U.S. politics. In 1980, Christian Voice claimed 107,000 members including 37,000 pastors from 45 denominations. Christian Voice was headquartered at The Heritage Foundation in the 1970s and 1980s and is currently located in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) is a 501(c)(4) anti abortion organization that is non-profit, non-partisan, and non-sectarian. It was incorporated in 1971 by Jay and Cheryl Bowman. In 1973, it became the state affiliate of the Washington, D.C.-based National Right to Life Committee in response to the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion.
Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. It focuses on a concern with moral and social values which proponents of the ideology see as degraded in modern society by liberalism. In the United States, one of the largest forces of social conservatism is the Christian right.
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