The Man Who Mobilized The Evangelical Vote | AJ+

The religious right is seen as a political force today, but it wasn't always. The plan to mobilize its constituencies took years.

He's been called the mastermind of the religious right. Paul Weyrich arrived in Washington, DC, in the 1960s, determined to shake things up by winning evangelical voters over to the Republican Party. He seized upon the issue of racial integration in the South and the crackdown on private, religious “segregation academies” to win over conservative religious leaders. In doing so, he began a movement that would help President Ronald Reagan take office in 1981 – and also President Donald Trump in 2017.

Learn more here:


The Atlantic. “In Southern Towns, 'Segregation Academies' Are Still Going Strong.”


Presenter & Senior Producer: Imaeyen Ibanga
Shot & Edited by: Brian Joseph
Animations by: Chia Liu
Produced by: Kathryn Wheeler, Stephanie Whiteside
Executive Producer: Sarah Nasr

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[zzulm]

No wonder why Jesus wasn't a politician.

[gandydancer]

Thom Hartmann has been talking about this for many years

[ChicagoTurtle]

...I’m an ex-evangelical. Thanks for documenting the history/development of Evangelical politics. I saved this in my favorites folder.

[MichaelW]

Paul Wyreich didn’t turn people against Carter. It was a pathetic ex Senator John Tunney did

[lerryperry]

I am going to share this to ALL my social media platforms! People must know the truth!!!!

[Staykool]

Thank you beautiful sister. This is POWERFUL!!

[theylied]

You do understand what the religious right tapped into in the South in 1964... it would later be known as the southern strategy.

And without the religious right Ronald Reagan never would have been elected president. Because of the religious right this is where we get the political term [neocon] it simply means new conservative. Before Ronald Reagan, under Barry Goldwater, the Republicans took a vow to never Court any Special Interest groups, that only changed when Reagan ran for president.

[thudor]

He was the reason we still can't have nice things in America today, such as a high-speed interstate rail system, single-payer universal healthcare and landing men on Mars before the Indians do.

[moemawri]

I never understood African American evangelicals. Why would u join a group that hates.

[watamatafoyu]

"We're losing! Wait, racism doesn't work anymore?! Hating women, no?! Busting unions?! Wait, can we say our opponents love killing babies?!! Winning!"

[Stikibits]

“The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State.”
~Founding Father James Madison, 1819, Writings, 8:432, quoted from Gene Garman, “Essays In Addition to America’s Real Religion”

[bertjones]

If Jesus were to come back today, the evangelicals would be on the barricades stoning him to death because he's not their type of Christian.

[thescatman]

My high school teacher taught me the famous quote, "Politics make strange bedfellows!"

[pwk]

The Religious Right nowadays has moved away from embracing the love of Jesus. They are more interested in hating other religions except what they consider their moral litmus test. Is it any wonder why more folks are turning to the independent churches that do not preach hate and judgement?

[wadegoodwin]

Wow, thank you so very much for this history lesson ma'am. Wade Goodwin, The FAIR Digest, South Africa

[hypersonic]

people are idiots when they think that they are voting for someone one that reads a scripture out of the bible or mentions god and they think they are religious. people need to do their research and find out for themselves who this person is and what they represent

[fireworksmoonlight]

The less religion in politics the better.

[TheSimonScowl]

I was there at the very roots of Christian Fundamentalism from 1973 - 1980. We had NO KNOWLEDGE of abortion prior to 1980. That was a Catholic thing and Fundies couldn't care less about Caltholics back then.

[FranklinA]

Thank you for this detail and history of the religious right. As a life long progressive Christian, many heated arguments with family members that embrace these philosophies. One more piece of the puzzle on the downfall of the R party.

[gg_rider]

I have written about opposition to extremes of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion because (a) it really means the opposite, and (b) modern liberal arts colleges are hardly hotbeds of racial discrimination or white supremacy.

However THIS STORY is one clear example of systemic racial hated and bias, purposeful racial segregation in schools.