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Phyllis Schlafly
Historical figureUnited States1924-2016

Phyllis Schlafly

Founder and president of Eagle Forum · Leader of the STOP ERA campaign

Conservative author and activist who led the fight that stopped the Equal Rights Amendment and started the Eagle Forum.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes9 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Phyllis Schlafly, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+60
    PublicPrivate

    Her economic score is inferred from her place in the Goldwater wing of limited-government conservatism, since she wrote little detailed economics.

  2. 02Markets+55
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare+60
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04AuthorityNo clear record
    DemocraticStrong leader

    No clear record on strong executive power versus democratic checks, so this is left null.

  5. 05SecurityNo clear record
    LibertyOrder

    Her public work was about the family, gender roles and defense rather than policing or civil liberties, so this is left null.

  6. 06Structure-50
    LocalCentral
  7. 07Morality+95
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion+65
    SecularReligious
  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution

    No known view on regulating technology, so this is left null.

  10. 10Culture+75
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11Trade+55
    GlobalProtected

    She campaigned against the WTO and against the idea of a 'North American Union', which she said endangered American sovereignty. That moves her toward the protected end.

  12. 12Foreign policy+70
    CooperationStrength

    She wanted a strong military and rejected arms control with the Soviets. She also objected to the UN and to sending US troops to Bosnia in 1996. All of this leans toward strength and sovereignty.

3 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Phyllis Schlafly?

Phyllis Schlafly was born in St. Louis and worked as a lawyer, author and organizer on the right. She went to Washington University and Radcliffe, and twice ran for Congress in Illinois, losing in 1952 and again in 1970. Her breakthrough was A Choice Not an Echo (1964), which she published herself to back Barry Goldwater. Millions of copies sold. From 1972 she ran STOP ERA, the campaign to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. She also set up Eagle Forum, and led it until her death. She took a law degree in 1978 and wrote a newspaper column and radio talks for decades.

Political views

  • She claimed the Equal Rights Amendment would take legal protections away from women, and she gave 'STOP' the meaning 'Stop Taking Our Privileges'.Source: womenshistory.org
  • She opposed feminism and held that the traditional roles, above all wife and mother, were best for women.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • On the draft, she sent senators a 1983 note saying 'Real Men Do Not Draft Women'.Source: womenshistory.org
  • She said Roe v. Wade was the worst decision the Supreme Court ever made, and she rejected both same-sex marriage and civil unions.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • She co-wrote books on national defense and was against arms control deals with the Soviet Union.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • She attacked the World Trade Organization as a threat to American sovereignty and also criticized the United Nations.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • She urged Republicans to reject immigration reform, and in 2016 she endorsed Donald Trump.Source: en.wikipedia.org

Legacy

Admirers say Schlafly killed the Equal Rights Amendment, which ended three states short of the 38 it needed, and turned conservative women into a lasting force inside the Republican Party. The Women's History Museum notes that she helped make 'family values' a political phrase. Feminist critics say she fought to narrow women's legal equality while carving out a public career herself. A 2007 comment that marriage means consent to sex caused an outcry. In 2008 hundreds of graduates at Washington University turned their backs in protest as she was given an honorary degree. Her endorsement of Trump in 2016 split the Eagle Forum board.

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Phyllis Schlafly: questions

Was Phyllis Schlafly against women's rights?

She opposed feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment, but she said she was defending women's interests. Her view was that the amendment would cost women protections such as exemption from the draft.

What is Eagle Forum?

It is a conservative group Schlafly founded and ran until she died in 2016. Its main causes are family, schools, national sovereignty and the courts.

Was Phyllis Schlafly ever elected to office?

No. Both of her bids for Congress in Illinois, in 1952 and 1970, failed, and she never ran again. She had her influence through activism, books, columns and radio.

Sources

Portrait: Phyllis Schlafly by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped).jpg by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and converted to grayscale by 12axes-test.com.