Phyllis Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum in 1972, originally to battle the Equal Rights Amendment. Although she enjoyed portraying herself in the media as just a concerned housewife, Schlafly had been involved in right-wing politics for many years and had authored books promoting far-right views on military policy and the threat of communism.

Over the years, the Eagle Forum expanded to take on other Religious Right issues and Schlafly authored books attacking public schools, promoting phonics and blasting so-called “judicial activism.”