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The New Right had a plan--to bring evangelical Christians together as a voting bloc. But how to do that? They chose a few targets, people with big followings, and courted them. Jerry Falwell was an obvious choice. He was a fundamentalist preacher, televangelist, and the founder of Liberty University. He also had a propensity for the dramatic, seeing the end of days around every corner.
The New Right did not like President Jimmy Carter and did their best to turn evangelicals against him. A big job considering that Carter was an evangelical and often talked about his faith. Still, they wanted Ronald Reagan (a divorced actor with a reputation with the ladies) to be their man.
In this episode, Chris is joined by author and historian Rick Perlstein.
Sources
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Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
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article about Reinhold Niebuhr
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God's Own Party by Daniel K. Williams
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The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
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Listen, America! by Jerry Falwell
Discussion Questions
- What was the role of the New Right in recruiting religious people?
- Why was Falwell an ideal candidate for the New Right?
- A higher percentage of evangelicals voted for Nixon than for Reagan. So why do we talk so much about Reagan as a turning point?
- What was the Moral Majority? How do we see groups like them operating today?
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