Dr James Dobson, a prominent and influential evangelical leader who advised four US presidents, has died aged 89./SCREENGRAB
Dr James Dobson, a prominent and influential evangelical leader who advised four US presidents, has died aged 89.
Dobson was a fixture in conservative US politics for decades and most recently served on Donald Trump's advisory board for evangelical affairs.
The ministry he founded, Focus on the Family, is one of the largest in the world, with a presence in nearly 100 countries.
As well as Trump, Dobson advised three other Republican presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, and George W Bush.
Born in Louisiana in 1936, Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977, with the stated mission of affirming "the God-ordained institution of the family".
His radio programme was eventually broadcast by 4,000 radio stations across North America.
He published his first of more than 70 books - Dare To Discipline, which advocated for strict parental authority and corporal punishment - while working as an associate clinical professor of paediatrics at the University of California School of Medicine.
Gary Bauer of the Dr James Dobson Family Institute described the organisation's founder as a "pioneer" and "a man of deep conviction whose voice shaped the way generations view faith, family and culture".
While he never ran for public office, Dobson was considered extremely influential in conservative political circles in the US.
He founded the Family Research Council in 1981, a think-tank that advocates for socially conservative causes, and coordinated state-level lobbying organisations across the country.
In 1982, he was appointed to a national advisory committee on youth justice by then-President Ronald Reagan.
Dobson later acted as an adviser during both Bush presidencies and endorsed Donald Trump in the 2020 election, as well as offering him vocal support during impeachment hearings.
Dobson's views lead to several controversies over his career.
In 2014, he was accused of hijacking a National Day of Prayer event by calling Barack Obama "the abortion president" - prompting former California congresswoman Janice Hahn to storm out of the event.
Dobson was also considered a hard-liner on LGBTQ+ issues, and in 1973 resigned from the American Psychological Association after it removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.
In 2010, his Family Research Council was formally designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for what it described as "anti-gay propaganda throughout its history", a charge the group vehemently denied.
He was often dismissive of his critics, writing in a 2019 newsletter that "left-wing activists typically hate committed Christians".
"It begins with resentment for everything we stand for," he wrote. "They despise this belief system because it threatens their godless worldview."
In 2022, Dobson claimed a victory after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which gave women in the US a constitutional right to abortion across the country.
"At last, the tide has changed, and the legality of abortion has been given to the people to decide - where it belonged in the first place," he said at the time.
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