Archive profile summary
Baptist pastor and televangelist who founded the Moral Majority in 1979 and became one of the most visible figures in the organized entry of conservative evangelicals into national electoral politics.
Why this entry is in the archive
Represents the organized entry of large evangelical constituencies into national conservative electoral politics.
Moral Majority
Falwell founded the Moral Majority in 1979 to mobilize religious conservatives around elections and social issues.
The organization became one of the best-known vehicles for connecting evangelical audiences with Republican electoral politics during the Reagan era.
Media and organizing
Falwell’s existing religious broadcasting and institutional visibility gave the organization access to audiences and local networks that political organizations alone would have had to build from scratch.
Dissolution
Falwell announced the Moral Majority’s dissolution in 1989, but the broader religious-right infrastructure continued through other organizations and leaders.
Evidence limits
Falwell was influential but did not speak for all evangelicals or conservative Christians.
Religious affiliation should never be treated as evidence of political coordination without a specific organizational relationship.
Timeline
- Religious-right and candidate infrastructure expands
Jerry Falwell forms Moral Majority; Beverly LaHaye founds Concerned Women for America; GOPAC is created to build a Republican state and local candidate farm team.
Moral Majority · Beverly LaHaye · Concerned Women for America · GOPAC
Relationship records
Jerry Falwell → Moral Majority
Founder and chairman · 1979–1989
Evidence status: documented