Advertisement Advertisement Dobson in his heyday was able to make or break political candidates, in part through two powerhouse groups he had a hand in creating: Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.

Focus on the Family remembered Dobson as both its founder and its visionary. Jim Daly, the organization’s current president and Dobson’s successor, said in a statement that Dobson’s legacy “is in the people he touched and the families he helped,” adding that “millions of marriages were saved and strengthened” because of his leadership.

James Dobson, evangelical minister and child psychologist who was one of the most influential people among Christian conservatives in America, has died at 89.