Particle.news
Download on the App Store
47 ARTICLES
·
1h ago

James Dobson, Focus on the Family Founder Who Shaped Evangelical Politics, Dies at 89

The psychologist built a sprawling media and advocacy network that advised presidents.

PHILADELPHIA - JANUARY 8: Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, gestures while speaking at the Justice Sunday III rally on January 8, 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the Family Research Council, the rally was held one day before the start of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. (Photo by Jeff Fusco/Getty Images)
James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, speaks at a prayer event in San Diego in 2008.
Image
Evangelical leader James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, speaks to supporters a day after a monument of the Ten Commandments was removed from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama, on August 28, 2003.

Overview

  • The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute announced his death on Aug. 21 at age 89, listing survivors including his wife Shirley and two children.
  • Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977, turning a parenting-focused radio show into a major evangelical media and advocacy platform.
  • His bestselling books, notably Dare to Discipline, promoted corporal punishment and a patriarchal family model that influenced evangelical culture.
  • He advised multiple Republican presidents and helped seed institutions such as the Family Research Council while supporting long-term legal strategies embraced by the Religious Right.
  • He left Focus on the Family in 2010, created the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, and continued the Family Talk broadcast carried by about 1,500 stations.