James Dobson

===Shift to political activity===
Around two thousand radio stations aired Dobson's program to an audience of six to ten million by the early 2000s. With over two million addresses on his mailing list, his organization launched a publishing house. He was an established power broker. [[Richard Land]] called him "the most influential evangelical leader in America" at that time, saying his influence was comparable to [[Billy Graham]] in the 1960s-70s.{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=86}}

Dobson stepped down as president and CEO of Focus on the Family in 2003, and resigned from the position of chairman of the board in February 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=James Dobson resigns as Focus on the Family chair |date=February 27, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29431308/ns/us_news-faith/t/dobson-resigns-chair-focus-family/ |access-date=2018-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070235/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29431308/ns/us_news-faith/t/dobson-resigns-chair-focus-family/ |archive-date=2018-01-05 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson explained his departure as twofold: firstly, to allow a smooth transfer of leadership to the next generation, and in this case, to [[Jim Daly (evangelist)|Jim Daly]] whom he directly appointed as his replacement. And secondly, because he and Daly had divergent views on policy, "especially when it comes to confronting those who would weaken the family and undermine our faith."<ref>{{cite news |title=The Rest of the Story |date=2013-10-07 |access-date=2013-10-07 |url=http://drjamesdobson.org/about/commentaries/the-rest-of-the-story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817203753/http://drjamesdobson.org/About/Commentaries/The-rest-of-the-story |archive-date=August 17, 2013}}</ref> After he stepped down, Focus on the Family hired an orthodoxy expert to maintain Dobson's message.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=33}} Free to become more explicitly political without imperiling Focus on the Family's tax exemptions, Dobson rededicated himself primarily to lobbying instead of advice to families. While Daly attempted to appeal to a new generation of evangelicals with softened messages on abortion and homosexuality, Dobson remained hard-line. Focus on the Family removed archives of Dobson's writing from their headquarters and website.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=41–44}}

In 2004, Dobson founded [[Family Policy Alliance]], a lobbying arm of his media empire. With a more permissive tax status than Focus on the Family, it is allowed to directly fundraise for political campaigns.{{sfn|Gilgoff|2007|p=14–15}} The Alliance also coordinates the action of Dobson's network of state-based Family Policy Councils. Together, these organizations seek to encode traditional [[gender roles]] into public policy and law.{{sfn|Brenneman|2014|p=135-136}} They consider [[LGBT rights]] to be a threatening "[[gay agenda|LGBT agenda]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://familypolicyalliance.com/issues/tag/lgbt-agenda/ |title=Who can you trust? |website=Family Policy Alliance |first=Nicole |last=Hudgens }}</ref>

Throughout its existence, Dobson has attacked the [[President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]] (PEPFAR), a US government program to fight AIDS worldwide. In 2006, he claimed that "80 percent of this money is going toward terrible programs that are immoral as well as ineffective. For example, to promote condom distribution, people associated with these government programs have dressed up like condoms and created ceramic sculptures of male genitalia."<ref>{{cite web |title=Casting the first stone: the US Christian right's war on the Global Fund |first=Theo |last=Smart |date=23 June 2006 |url=https://www.aidsmap.com/news/jun-2006/casting-first-stone-us-christian-rights-war-global-fund}}</ref> He renewed his attack in 2023, falsely claiming that PEPFAR funds abortions.<ref>{{cite news |work=Health Policy Watch |first=Kerry |last=Cullinan |date=June 20, 2023 |title=Lives Are At Risk as Anti-Abortion Groups Attack HIV Programme PEPFAR |url=https://healthpolicy-watch.news/lives-at-risk-as-groups-attack-pepfar/ }}</ref> Focus on the Family received a grant of $49,505 through PEPFAR in 2017 to operate an [[Abstinence-only sex education|abstinence-only]] purity pledge program.<ref>{{cite web |website=USA Spending |title=Project Grant |url=https://www.usaspending.gov/award/50022480 }}</ref>