A Wall of Separation · Episode 9 of 14 · 21 min
Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the Rise of the Moral Majority
Between 1979 and 1989 the Religious Right built its machinery: Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, Pat Robertson's CBN and 700 Club, a presidential run and the Christian Coalition. Issues ladder from school prayer to the ERA to secular humanism to abortion as durable glue, while a sense of betrayal by Carter pushed the move to Reagan.
Who's who
- Jerry Falwell+1 more episodeBaptist pastor and public face of the Moral Majority
- Paul Weyrich+1 more episodeNew Right strategist who coined the phrase moral majority
- Howard PhillipsConservative organizer and Moral Majority co-founder
- Ed McAteerFounder of the Religious Roundtable who introduced Weyrich to Falwell
- Robert Billings+1 more episodeChristian-school activist and first Moral Majority executive director
- Pat RobertsonCBN founder, 700 Club host and 1988 presidential candidate
- Ralph ReedExecutive director of the Christian Coalition
- Jimmy Carter+12 more episodesBorn-again Democratic president who disillusioned the movement
Where it happens
- Lynchburg, VirginiaHome of Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church
- Dallas, Texas+2 more episodesSite of the 1980 National Affairs Briefing
Timeline
- June 1979The Moral Majority is founded with Falwell as figurehead
- August 22, 1980Reagan tells about 2,500 pastors in Dallas, I know you can't endorse me, but I endorse you
- November 1980Reagan defeats Carter
- 1987Robertson announces a run for the Republican presidential nomination
- 1989Robertson founds the Christian Coalition; the Moral Majority disbands
Still debated
Historians see both sincere moral alarm and strategic craft, and debate how quickly Roe galvanized evangelicals. How decisive the movement was to Reagan's 1980 win, and whether Carter's stance was betrayal or principle, are also argued.
← PreviousHow the IRS — Not Abortion — Sparked the Religious RightNext →Promise Keepers: The 1990s Movement That Filled Stadiums With Men
Connected episodes in other series
The October Surprise: Did Reagan's Camp Delay the 1980 Hostage Release?Iran & America: A Century and Counting · Episode 5Also features Jimmy Carter
The Lottery and the End: The Botched Draw and the Draft's Last DaysGreeting: America and the Draft · Episode 11Also features Jimmy Carter
How Emptying the Asylums Created Modern HomelessnessNo Fixed Address · Episode 2Also features Jimmy Carter
Torrijos: How a General Talked America Into Giving the Canal BackPanama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 13Also features Jimmy Carter