Overview

• Dobson’s death at 89 was reported last week, prompting a broad reappraisal of his influence on American evangelicalism and politics.
• He built Focus on the Family into a major multimedia operation after launching a syndicated radio show in 1977 and helped start the Family Research Council before later founding the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
• His bestselling parenting books, led by 1970’s Dare to Discipline, promoted corporal punishment and established him as a household name among conservative Christians.
• Dobson’s organizations advanced anti‑LGBTQ efforts, including hiring ex‑gay figure John Paulk in 1995 and promoting Love Won Out; Exodus International later apologized and closed in 2013, yet a 2023 Trevor Project report found more than 1,300 practitioners still conduct conversion practices in 48 states with significantly higher suicide risk for affected youth.
• Scholars and analysts credit Dobson with mobilizing the Religious Right and shaping GOP priorities, with allied legal networks participating in recent Supreme Court victories on abortion and religious‑liberty issues such as 303 Creative and Carson v. Makin.