Jerry Falwell

===Moral Majority===
{{Main|Moral Majority}}

[[File:Ford B1710 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-09-30)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Falwell greeting [[President of the United States|President]] [[Gerald Ford]] in 1976]]
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell.jpg|thumb|right|Falwell with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1983]]
[[File:Bush Contact Sheet P19932 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Falwell with [[President of the United States|President]] [[George H.&nbsp;W. Bush]] in 1991]]

The Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobbies for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.<ref name=MSNBC>{{cite news |title=Moral Majority Founder Jerry Falwell Dies |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18679412 |work=NBC News |date=May 15, 2007 |access-date=January 6, 2009 }}</ref> According to Falwell's self-published autobiography, the Moral Majority was promoted as being "pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-moral, and pro-American"{{sfn|J. Falwell|1997|p=388}} and was credited with delivering two thirds of the white evangelical vote to [[Ronald Reagan]] during the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].{{sfnm |1a1=King |1y=1997 |2a1=Williams |2y=2010}} According to Jimmy Carter, "that autumn [1980] a group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV to brand me as a traitor to the South and no longer a Christian."{{sfn|Carter|2010|p=469}} As head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics. This led [[Billy Graham]] to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element. Graham stated at the time of Falwell's death, "We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments went beyond most clergy of his generation."<ref name=MSNBC/>