The Arlington Group was a coalition uniting the leaders of prominent Christian conservative organizations in the United States. Founded in 2002 principally through the efforts of American Family Association President

Donald Wildmon Donald Ellis Wildmon (born January 18, 1938) is an ordained United Methodist minister, author, former radio host, and founder and chairman emeritus of the American Family Association and American Family Radio. Life and career Wildmon was born in t ...

and Free Congress Foundation Chairman

Paul Weyrich Paul Michael Weyrich (; October 7, 1942 – December 18, 2008) was an American religious conservative political activist and commentator associated with the New Right. He co-founded the conservative think tanks The Heritage Foundation, the Fre ...

, the group sought to establish consensus goals and strategy among its members and translate its combined constituency into an overwhelming force within the Republican Party, particularly at its highest levels. Its membership and purpose overlapped to a high degree with the

Council for National Policy The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian rig ...

; but the group is much more narrowly focused, choosing to emphasize such issues as same-sex marriage, abortion, and confirmation of like-minded federal judges. The group had mixed success. While widely acknowledged to have the ear of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and his chief political advisor Karl Rove, and while generally successful in its efforts to coordinate the

Christian Right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...

, it also endured noteworthy embarrassments. In early 2005, it threatened to withhold support for the President's proposed Social Security reforms if Bush did not vigorously support a federal

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

ban on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. This provoked a firestorm of unwelcome media attention, but failed to produce the group's desired result (despite the President's continuing support for both their specific and broader aims). And later, in October 2005, Arlington Group Chairman and Focus on the Family founder

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

became the center of a minor scandal after leaking assurances made by Rove to an Arlington Group conference call regarding the pro-life credentials of Supreme Court nominee and

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

counsel

Harriet Miers Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945) is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party since 1988, she previously served as White House Staff Secretary f ...

. Miers withdrew her nomination later that month, largely due to reservations among conservatives.

Membership

The organization's deliberations were strictly off-the-record, and membership was previously held confidential, but the group launched a website in July 2006 which listed its member organizations.The Arlington Group - Members
/ref> In March 2007, the home page was taken down; according to an article in ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', it was "abruptly disabled earlier this month after the Globe began making inquiries".Coalition seeks to reframe GOP race , Leaders of secretive group interview 2008 candidates
/ref> Since each group's principal served as its Arlington Group "member", but some of the groups were headed by a single principal (e.g., Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action are both headed by

), the site's list was somewhat confusing; and members were not required to disclose their participation. However, the following organizations and individuals were identified as members as of 2006: *

Alliance Defense Fund Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF, formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to curtail rights for LGBTQ people; expand Christian practices within public schools and in government; and ...

Alan Sears Alan E. Sears is an American lawyer. He served as the president, CEO, and general counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom until January 2017. Sears was also the staff executive director of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, popu ...

* American Family Association -

* American Values -

Gary Bauer Gary Lee Bauer (born May 4, 1946) is an American civil servant, activist, and former political candidate. He served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, and later became p ...

Bott Radio Network The Bott Radio Network is a network of Christian radio stations in the United States, broadcasting Christian talk and teaching programs. Programs heard on the Bott Radio Network include ''Love Worth Finding'' with Adrian Rogers, ''In Touch'' w ...

Richard Bott Richard Bott (born 1968) is a minister of the United Church of Canada who served as the 43rd Moderator of that church from 2018 to 2022. Early life and education Bott was born in Marathon, Ontario and grew up there. Following graduation fro ...

* Center for Moral Clarity - Rod Parsley *

Citizens for Community Values Citizens for Community Values (CCV) is a lobbying organization focused upon implementing conservative Christian sexual morality in public policy. It operates primarily in the US state of Ohio and is the Family Policy Council (a Focus on the Fam ...

- Phil Burress * Coalition of African American Pastors - William Owens, Sr. * ConservativeHQ.com -

Richard Viguerie Richard Art Viguerie (; born September 23, 1933) is an American conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on politics. He is the current chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. Life and career Viguerie was born in Golden Acres, ...

* Coral Ridge Ministries and Center for Reclaiming America - D. James Kennedy * Covenant Marriage Movement -

Phil Waugh Phillip Waugh (born 22 September 1979) is a retired Australian rugby union footballer who played 136 matches in Super Rugby for the NSW Waratahs, and in 79 Test matches for the Wallabies. His usual position was openside flanker. Rugby career W ...

Exodus International Exodus International was a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian umbrella organization connecting organizations that sought to "help people who wished to limit their homosexual desires". Founded in 1976, Exodus International original ...

- Alan Chambers *

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

and FRC Action - Tony Perkins * Florida Family Policy Council - John Stemberger * Fieldsted & Company - Howard Ahmanson, Jr. * Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action -

* Free Congress Foundation -

* High Impact Leadership Coalition - Bishop Harry Jackson * Inspiration Television Network * Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration and

Vision America Vision America is a conservative American Christian organization founded in 1994 by Baptist pastor Rick Scarborough, which describes itself as formed to "inform, encourage and mobilize pastors and their congregations to be proactive in restori ...

- Rick Scarborough *

Liberty Counsel Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt religious liberty organization that engages in litigation related to evangelical Christian values. Liberty Counsel was founded in 1989 by its chairman Mathew Staver and its president Anita L. Staver, who a ...

- Mathew Staver *

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

- Jerry Falwell *

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches ...

Leith Anderson Leith Anderson (born 1944) is president emeritus of the National Association of Evangelicals and Baptist pastor emeritus of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, after serving as senior pastor from 1977 through 2011. Early life and education ...

* Ohio Restoration Project -

Russell Johnson Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in ''Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''. Early life Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, o ...

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...

- Stuart Epperson * Southern Baptist Convention -

Richard Land Richard D. Land (born 1946) is the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, a post he has held since July 2013. Formerly he served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public polic ...

Susan B. Anthony List Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S. by supporting anti-abortion politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List ...

- Marjorie Dannenfelser *

Teen Mania Ministries Teen Mania International was an Evangelical Christian youth organization located in Dallas, Texas (formerly Garden Valley, Texas). Teen Mania focused primarily on four key programs, with a few additional smaller endeavors. It was one of the larges ...

Ron Luce Ronald Allan Luce, (born July 11, 1961) is the co-founder and president of Teen Mania Ministries which was located in Garden Valley, Texas. Together with his wife Katie, Ron founded Teen Mania in 1986 and led the organization until its bankruptc ...

* TeenPact - Tim Echols * TheVanguard.org - Rod D. Martin * Tradition, Family, Property *

Traditional Values Coalition The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) was an American conservative Christian organization. It was founded in Orange County, California by Rev. Louis P. Sheldon to oppose LGBT rights. Sheldon's daughter, Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, was the execut ...

Lou Sheldon Louis P. Sheldon (June 11, 1934 – May 29, 2020) was an American Presbyterian pastor, and then Anglican priest, and chairman of the social conservative organization, the Traditional Values Coalition. He principally spoke and wrote about contro ...

* Your Catholic Voice -

Raymond Flynn Raymond Leo Flynn (born July 22, 1939) is an American politician who served as 52nd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1984 until 1993. He also served as United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 1993–1997. Flynn was an All-American c ...

References

External links

Arlington Group website

"The Arlington Group"

"The Money Behind the 2004 Marriage Amendments"
Institute on Money in State Politics

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060613212035/http://www.washblade.com/2005/1-28/news/national/arlington.cfm Religious Leaders Threaten Bush '' The Washington Blade''
Did Christian conservatives receive assurances that Miers would oppose Roe v. Wade?
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''
ADL Urges Joint Effort Against Right
{{Conservatism footer Political organizations based in the United States Anti-abortion organizations in the United States Christian organizations based in the United States Deep politics Conservative organizations in the United States 2002 establishments in the United States

Membership

See also

References

External links