Posted on 08/15/2014 10:49:43 AM PDT by jazusamo
Very few individuals who were not politicians or generals have had a major impact on American political history. Phyllis Schlafly is one of the exceptions. Twice. In 1964, she helped launch the grass-roots conservative movement that flourishes today, transformed by the internet, and in 1972 she inaugurated what came to be called “social conservatism.”
More than any other individual, she was responsible for the nomination of Barry Goldwater, and thus, indirectly, Ronald Reagan. And virtually single-handedly, she defeated the so-called Equal Rights Amendment.
Schlafly was born 90 years ago today in St. Louis, the daughter of John and Odile Stewart. Her father was a machinist who was unemployed through most of the Great Depression. But the Stewarts were not Democrats. “We left the party under Grover Cleveland,” Schlafly says. Her mother worked as a librarian and teacher to support the family, and Schlafly put herself through college (Washington University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa) working in a munitions plant during the war, test-firing .30 and .50 caliber rifles and machine guns 48 hours a week.
Her becoming a political activist was entirely fortuitous, she says. She had married attorney Fred Schlafly and the couple had moved across the Mississippi to Alton, Illinois. In 1952, some local Republican leaders came to their home to invite Fred to run for Congressman. The district was heavily Democratic, Fred’s practice was flourishing, and he was not interested. They turned to his wife. Phyllis agreed.
Female candidates were a novelty in those days, and she was invited to address the state Republican convention. She gave a dynamic speech to the 10,000 delegates sweltering in the unairconditioned Armory in Springfield, and received a lot of media attention. Schlafly lost the race in November, but was hooked on politics.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“Feminists have nothing to offer—only anger. No hope, no contentment, no gratitude.
That is all liberals. Angry all the time.
For over a year, we had organizations of volunteers galore to defeat the pernicious amendment. Interesting note: an amazing percentage of the volunteers in Illinois were local Morman women. They were invaluable, turning out by the hundreds throughout the state to man phones, get petitions signed, etc.
Phyllis was the spark-plug....travelling the country, leading conservative troops nation-wide to victory by roundly defeating both the liberals and the national media.
(But don't think lefties of the same mind-set today aren't planning for a return campaign tomorrow).
I saw Phyllis for the first time in decades at the Freeper House Managers Banquet in DC (honoring those House members who managed and steered the successful Clinton impeachment through the lower chamber.
She was there for the entire banquet and ceremonies. Getting on in years, Mrs. Schlafly was just as sharp, just as beautiful and just as classy a lady as always.
At the banquet I also got to re-une with another old friend, impeachment manager and fellow Illinoisan, the late great Cong. Henry Hyde....a magnificent conservative and long-time Right-to-Life leader.....and, incidentally, my singing buddy of old Irish songs at the watering hole for local politicians.
Wonderful days, wonderful memories of those who served us (and our country) so well. We are in their debt.
Leni
Whoa! Sorry for linking Thatcher with Schlafly. 10,000 pardons.
No problem. I thought Thatcher was a strong leader. One of the best Britain ever had.
Good for you and splendid observations!
The Mormon rank and file are wonderful people who consistently can be found on the conservative side of many important issues.
It is one reason why I will sometimes engage the well organized gaggle of bigoted morons who engage in shrill mindless bashing of their faith on this forum.
Hear, hear. Love her and her expansive conservative intellect.
I was going to ping you to this wonderful article, but I see you’ve already been here!
At least she aborted socialist and communist expansionism.
Schlafly saw that the [Equal Rights] amendment would grant no new rights to women, while it threatened to abolish two privileges women enjoyed: immunity from the draft and the legal guarantees in every state mandating that a husband support his wife and family. Also seemingly endangered were laws against sexual assault, and legal precedents awarding alimony and child custody to women. With American troops still in Vietnam, these possibilities struck a resonant chord both with young single women and with married homemakers. Funding for single-sex colleges might also be in jeopardy, critics pointed out, and quotas in the workplace might be mandated by judges.As Schlafly saw clearly, the hidden objective of ERA was to deny women any legal claim on their husband’s earnings. Homemakers, for the first time in history, were to be deprived of the support of society….
...As Section 2 made explicit, the rights of states would be over-ridden by Congress and federal judges in legislation concerning families and the workplace. States stood to be big losers…
...ERA had almost no opposition before Schlafly swung into action. It had been endorsed by three presidents and their wives, and by both parties. The campaign to get the GOP to oppose the amendment could be said to mark the beginning of social conservatism….
She would spend much of the rest of her life defending the traditional family.
...When asked what’s the biggest change in the country that she’s witnessed during her lifetime, she doesn’t hesitate: “it’s the decline in marriage.” And the most pressing problem today is “the decline in the number of intact families.”
...It’s not hard to see why feminism has been welcomed by most middle-class men. It offers a good trade-off: in exchange for a share of the housework and cooking (sometimes rewarding) and of child-care (often rewarding), men, before they marry, are able to sleep with a succession of bright middle-class women. Their fathers and grandfathers had been obliged to prey on women in lower social classes and to conduct their affairs (quaint word) furtively. And today, husbands, after 20 years or so, can exchange their wives for a newer model…
Happy 90th birthday to Mrs. Schlafly!
Thank you for posting those parts, AW.
It’s a long article and there’s probably not many that will read it in its entirety.
Phyllis Schlafly is a really great person that has accomplished so much for conservatism and still writes excellent columns.
And I would TOTALLY hit it too. Ha! Brains are beautiful.
When she started her activism, I was a woman who had been paid less to do twice as much as men with half my ability. So I fell for the media portrayal of her. Then I did another degree mid-career. I took a Constitutional Law class and started researching the feminist-favoring decisions on abortion, marriage, sexual politics, et cetera, expecting to agree with our highest Court, only to find that the SCOTUS’s so-called reasoning and conclusions were appalling. I soon came to the same conclusions Phyllis Schlafly has come to: the Marxist deconstruction of marriage is the tool that was being used to destroy our Constitutional republic. And this was many years ago. I couldn’t get any of my professors interested in the topic, or in helping me develop it further. Wonder why? But fortunately for me, it was the beginning for me of becoming a thinking conservative and no longer an unthinking “default liberal.”
Your story has much more meaning for me after talking with you at the Walter Reed Freeps...:)
Since I joined FR, Phyllis Schlafly has adorned my Freep Page.
One of my heroes!
All the years we’ve been acquainted, and I’d never read your home page. Thank you for pointing it out — wonderful photos and commentary!!
Happy birthday to one of the giants.
Years ago, I became friends with several of Phyllis’s key leaders in Florida when I helped them (in a small way) to defeat the effort to get the Florida legislature to ratify the ERA. Those good ladies were shrewd, dedicated, and a delight to work with. They are some of the finest people whom I have known in politics.
Great piece on a great woman.
...and yours - by all accounts! :-)
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