Dr. Dobson Has Left the Building
And then there was one. When James Dobson announced in February that he was stepping down as chair of Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs–based organization he founded in 1977, the move left Chuck Colson as the only remaining member of the quintet that launched the Religious Right to still hold a position of authority. Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy both died in 2007, the same year that Pat Robertson retired as head of the Christian Broadcasting Network. Dobson took the additional step in late October of leaving his long-running radio show, which reached an estimated 1.5 million U.S. listeners daily. Focus on the Family has struggled with budget crises in recent years and has been forced to make severe layoffs to stay afloat. Its new leader, the 48-year-old Jim Daly, hopes Focus can survive by, er, refocusing on young evangelical Christians.