Few men have packed more accomplishments into a lifetime than James Dobson, psychologist, New York Times bestselling author of over 70 books, adviser to five presidents, radio broadcaster, and founder of the Focus on the Family Institute.
Prolific, profound, and prescient, Dobson dedicated his life to strengthening the family. He spent decades encouraging evangelicals to get involved in politics. The conservative Christian movement as we know it wouldn’t exist without Dobson. He was the Right’s first culture warrior.
Dobson was born in Louisiana on April 21, 1936, the only child of parents who were traveling evangelists with the Church of the Nazarene. He studied psychology at Point Loma Nazarene University and earned a doctorate at the University of Southern California medical school. His interest in child psychology led him to academic research at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he worked for 17 years. His academic mind and education rooted in child psychology would serve as an obvious jump-off point to the first wave of his career.
Aware of social trends, Dobson became worried about the growing divorce rate and the slow dissolution of the family unit. He disagreed with the pediatrician and author Dr. Benjamin Spock’s more liberal child-rearing advice and believed the 1960s’ “free love” was wrecking families. In 1970, Dobson wrote the book Dare to Discipline in less than a year while working full-time. The original and the 1992 revision have sold over 3.5 million copies.
Dobson saw the need for straight talk about raising families in a culture that didn’t seem to value them. In 1977, Dobson launched Focus on the Family initially as a short, weekly radio program. The following year, Dobson released the Focus on the Family Film Series and his next blockbuster, The Strong-Willed Child. It has sold over 2.5 million copies and remains one of his best-known, if controversial, parenting books.
Dobson tried to practice what he preached. According to his son Ryan, Dobson had been traveling a lot while producing the film series and working at the Children’s Hospital, serving as a professor of pediatrics at USC, and writing books. But Dobson’s father wrote to him and said he was concerned about his son’s inability to spend time with his own two children while on the road. Dobson canceled his future speaking engagements to be a more present father.
In 1991, Dobson moved his nonprofit organization to Colorado. Focus on the Family’s little radio show expanded into a massive multimedia enterprise, showcasing books and radio programs estimated to have reached 220 million people in more than 150 countries. Dobson also founded the Family Research Council, a conservative political think tank and advocacy organization.
Dobson spurred his family-oriented listeners to lobby Congress with their concerns about policy issues that affected their lives.
“Hanging in the balance is the essence of the Christian faith — purity, reverence for life, family stability, love for God, and receptivity to the gospel itself,” he wrote in Christianity Today magazine in 1999. “We can’t afford to tremble now!”
Dobson endorsed former President George W. Bush for reelection in 2004. In 2005, Jim Daly took over Focus on the Family. But Dobson kept going. He launched Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, another radio show, and the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
Dobson didn’t care for Donald Trump’s personal character, but supported him for president as someone who could appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court. This paid off with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the culmination of Dobson’s tireless advocacy for the pro-life cause. Christian leaders such as Franklin Graham, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Eric Metaxas have publicly praised Dobson’s perseverance and service in the public sphere since his death.
I had the privilege of meeting Dobson and being one of his ghostwriters during an internship at the now-defunct Focus on the Family Institute, a program for college students, to earn credits in family and public policy courses, during my junior year in 2002.
I was nervous to meet the “Doctor,” as staff called him, and when I finally did, he felt larger than life and different from what I expected. He was kind but focused. He explained the importance of researching and writing material for Bringing Up Girls, published in 2010, the sequel to his bestselling Bringing Up Boys. He demanded my copy be clean, well-researched, and thorough.
A BAKER’S NIGHTMARE COMES TO AN END
His right-hand man, Paul Batura, who was on his personal staff for a decade, was my direct supervisor. Batura wrote a biography of Dobson, Gadzooks!: Dr. James Dobson’s Laws on Life and Leadership. Batura credits Dobson with teaching him how not to write.
In his 2000 book Stories of Heart and Home, Dobson wrote, “Great beginnings are not as important as the way one finishes.” Dobson surely embodied this. He died August 21, 2025, at the age of 89. He now rests with God, his eternal Savior, at last at peace after a lifetime of pro-family battles.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist for USA Today. She lives in Texas with her four children.
