Church And Statesmen

By Mitch Frank

1979 Jerry Falwell founds the Moral Majority with Paul Weyrich and others, luring many conservative Southern Democrats into the G.O.P.

1980 Ronald Reagan tells a convention of evangelical ministers, "You can't endorse me, but I endorse you." They eagerly throw their support behind him

1981 Reagan takes office. But after the first jubilant months, the religious right grows disappointed by Reagan's lack of attention to its concerns

1987 Religious conservatives criticize Surgeon General and former pro-life ally C. Everett Koop for his AIDS-education campaign

1988 Pat Robertson places second in the Iowa caucuses, beating Vice President George Bush and forcing the party to heed the right

1989 Robertson loses the nomination but marshals his primary supporters and founds the Christian Coalition, hiring 28-year-old Ralph Reed as executive director

1992 At the G.O.P. convention, TV viewers watch Pat Buchanan declare "a religious war" in America. Moderates complain the right has hijacked the party

1993 Bill Clinton takes office as the right's support fails to save Bush and the Republicans. Reed gives the coalition a more moderate face and works closely with the G.O.P. to mobilize the coalition's grass-roots organization

1994 Republicans seize control of Congress. The coalition is credited with helping win half the 52-seat gain in the House

1997 As dissatisfaction with Congress' failure to pass the right's agenda grows, Reed leaves the coalition to become a consultant

1998 Feeling ignored, James Dobson (along with his deputy Gary Bauer) of the powerful Focus on the Family threatens to withdraw support for Congressional Republicans. Voters in midterm elections reject the right's campaign to impeach Clinton and hand the G.O.P devastating losses

1999 Paul Weyrich, longtime leader of social conservatives, writes an open letter arguing that they should withdraw from politics and focus on spirituality

2000 George W. Bush kicks off his South Carolina campaign at Bob Jones University and, with the right wing's support, wins the state's primary

2000 John McCain says the G.O.P. should not be the party of Robertson and Falwell; Bush tries to distance himself from the right